Carson Talk to Manufactured Housing Professionals Centers on Cooperation for a Greater Good
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson levied his commitment to manufactured housing during his address at the MHI Congress and Expo in New Orleans.
Carson, a former neurosurgeon and presidential hopeful, addressed manufactured housing professionals for consecutive years at the annual event.
Addressing over 1,400 industry attendees, Sec. Carson said, praised factory-built options for Americans in need of an affordable housing option.
“manufactured housing is an active ingredient in the medication we are prescribing for a stronger America,” he said.
The Manufactured Housing Institute’s continued outreach to HUD resulted in the Secretary’s strong remarks. In addition, last Wednesday, he spoke to HUD’s Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee in Washington, D.C.
Objectives for Affordable Housing
Carson told attendees that the nation’s housing shortage is an issue of supply and demand. He said HUD’s strategy is focused on increasing supply.
“Since the key constraint on supply is the cost of new construction and development, the solution to the problem is to change the cost side of the equation,” he said. “Manufactured housing has emerged out of the limestone and stepped into the limelight, to address precisely this need.”
His talk highlighted the benefits of land-lease manufactured home communities, as well. They “combine affordability with a sense of neighborhood and lifestyle,” he said. “The fact that manufactured homes can be so beautifully done – and in fact are often indistinguishable from site-built homes – is manufactured housing’s best-kept secret.”
That secret deserves to be told, he said. Carson advised that political leanings giving way to common goals can help tell that story.
Industry Priorities Focus on Refined Regulatory Policy
A top priority of MHI is expediting changes to the federal code on manufactured homes, their finance and placement.
Through ongoing outreach with the administration, HUD, and Congress, MHI has pushed for a regulatory climate that favors manufactured housing.
Manufactured housing is the greatest form of non-subsidized affordable housing.
“For every family that’s not subsidized, you’re saving taxpayer money,” he said.
“The foundations of a better tomorrow are built with the new techniques and new technologies of today, and for manufactured housing, that time is now,” he said.
