Bi-Partisan Effort Aims to Clarify Regulatory Framework
U.S. Reps. Mike Flood, R-Nebraska, and Emanuel Cleaver, D-Missouri, on Sept. 10, introduced the “Streamlining Manufactured Housing Standards Act.” This legislation clarifies that only the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has the authority to establish energy efficiency and safety standards for manufactured housing.
“America has been grappling with a housing crisis and cutting red tape is one of the key tools to helping home builders create more housing,” Flood said. “Manufactured homes have historically been built to a HUD code, and in order to make manufactured homes a cost-effective option for consumers we must ensure that HUD has primary authority over all manufactured housing standards.
In a statement on the bill, Flood thanked Cleaver for helping to lead the effort.
“I look forward to working together to move this legislation through our committee and the full House,” he said.
Background on DOE Energy Rules in Manufactured Housing
A 2023 suit against the U.S. Department of Energy, brought by the Manufactured Housing Institute and the Texas Manufactured Housing Association, remains in the courts. In May of 2024, a large portion of the complaint was allowed to continue, and a section regarding the consideration of enforcement policies was dropped.
“American families are drowning under a national housing affordability crisis that is limiting economic opportunity and sowing pessimism in the future,” Cleaver said. “By clarifying HUD’s important role in maintaining home energy efficiency standards, we will ensure that federal experts in housing are the ones overseeing quality projects that enable the construction of manufactured housing nationwide. I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation with Chairman Flood as we seek to lower housing costs by streamlining the regulation of quality, affordable homes in communities that need them most.”
The center of the complaint is based on HUD’s role as the sole regulator for manufactured housing. In essence, the department should be able to work with and consider priorities from other bodies without being mandated to comply with rules written outside of HUD.
Advocates and industry professionals have expressed concern that, in this case and far too often, rules are written for other asset classes in the housing sector and then are crudely applied to manufactured housing.
MHI Applauds Efforts to Streamline Regulatory Framework for Manufactured Housing
“For more than 50 years, our industry has partnered with HUD to help millions of Americans achieve the dream of homeownership,” MHI CEO Lesli Gooch said. “The Streamlining Manufactured Housing Standards Act reaffirms HUD’s sole authority over our construction standards, preserving the integrity of this long-standing partnership. Manufactured housing is the only form of housing built to a federal construction code, and we do it at scale — delivering quality homes across the country at attainable prices.
“We commend Chairman Flood and Ranking Member Cleaver for their bipartisan leadership in protecting the regulatory efficiency that is central to this partnership. Regulatory efficiency, combined with factory-built efficiency, is the formula that makes manufactured housing the most affordable quality homeownership option available,” Gooch said. “This bill preserves the regulatory side of that equation and strengthens a vital housing solution for families nationwide.”
Flood is a member of the Housing Financial Services Committee and the chair of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee. He serves as the Chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus, and has introduced numerous pieces of legislation shaping housing policy, including the recent “Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined and Modernized Reviews Act.”
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