Karl Radde, the winner of the MHInsider Advocacy Award, is a 1993 graduate of Texas A&M University where he started working part-time for Yellow Rose Mobile Homes as a sales associate. After graduation, Radde became the full-time finance manager working with national lenders in the manufactured housing industry. In 1999, the dealership became Southern Comfort Homes and evolved into one of the top five independent retailers in Texas. Radde devotes significant time to the Texas Manufactured Housing Association and the Manufactured Housing Institute to stay aware of trends and activities that affect a consumer’s abilities to purchase and finance manufactured housing, lending his knowledge and experience into the conversation in an effort to create a more meaningful and beneficial transaction for everyone.
What do you view as the biggest achievement in your career?
While a bit unusual in our industry, other than a short stint as quality control manager at Schult, I have been with Southern Comfort Homes since 1999. This has allowed me to participate at a higher level in our industry associations and to help present the industry in a positive light to elected officials and while we may not always get the outcome we would like, we are at least in the discussions. As far as success, I have always had good people with me and around me that allowed us all to be successful and achieve our goals whether that was in business or in professional organizations.
What work or life skill do you give the most credit for your achievements?
Growing up, I was active in 4-H and FFA, which taught me communication skills. I was raised in a good Christian home on a ranch where we took care of sheep and cattle. That helped develop my work ethic and every year I would show that livestock in the county and state fairs, which taught me responsibility. While I was attending Texas A&M University, I went to work in sales at a local manufactured home retailer and I wasn’t as successful in sales as I would have liked, but, thankfully, they saw potential in me for working with lenders and insurance and put me in charge of finance and insurance. We eventually bought the company and it became Southern Comfort Homes where I am today.
MHInsider is a publication of MHVillage and is the premier source of manufactured housing news with a national audience of manufactured housing professionals dedicated to producing and delivering high quality, affordable, off-site built housing.
President Joe Biden has said he will nominate Sandra L. Thompson to serve as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Thompson has more than four decades of government experience in financial regulation, risk management, and consumer protection. She has served as the deputy director of the agency’s Division of Housing Mission and Goals since 2013. She also has served as acting director following the exit of Mark Calabria.
FHFA was created by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to oversee Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank System and is responsible for oversight of the $7.2 trillion mortgage finance market. It also is responsible for the oversight of new programs to support financing for manufactured homes and manufactured home communities.
As DHMG Deputy Director, Thompson oversaw FHFA’s housing and regulatory policy, capital policy, financial analysis, fair lending, and all mission activities for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Prior to joining FHFA, Thompson worked at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), for more than 23 years in a variety of leadership positions, most recently as Director of the Division of Risk Management Supervision.
During her time at FDIC, Thompson led the Agency’s examination and enforcement program for risk management and consumer protection at the height of the financial crisis. She also led the FDIC’s outreach initiatives in response to a crisis of consumer confidence in the banking system.
Thompson is a native of Chicago, a graduate of Howard University, and has two adult sons.
East Fork Crossing is a Sun Communities property in Batavia, Ohio. Photo courtesy of Sun Communities.
December JLT Reports for mobile home rent comps in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee are available now for purchase, including immediate download through Datacomp, the national leader in manufactured home valuation and community data.
JLT Market Reports provide detailed research and information on communities in 187 housing markets throughout the United States. These include the latest rent trends and statistics, marketing programs, and a variety of other useful management insights.
Datacomp maintains and provides the JLT Market Reports and is the nation’s #1 provider of market data for the manufactured housing industry. JLT Market Reports are recognized as the industry standard for manufactured home community market analysis.
The December 2021 manufactured housing market data published in JLT Market Reports for Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee include information from 13 markets on 353 “All ages” and “55+” manufactured home communities.
Altogether, the reports from the three states’ manufactured home communities include data representations for 68,399 homesites.
Regional Trends in Manufactured Housing Community Rent, Occupancy
Midwest region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 3.2% increase in average adjusted rent and a 1.5% increase in occupancy rate.
Northeast region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 3.0% increase in average adjusted rent and a 0.5% increase in occupancy rate.
Southern region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 4.3% increase in average adjusted rent and a 0.5% increase in occupancy rate.
“Manufactured home community occupancy and average rents were steady in a majority of the 13 markets represented in the December 2021 publications, though we see one major market that showed among all-ages communities a greater than average increase in rent and occupancy than the others,” Datacomp Co-President and Chief Business Development Officer Darren Krolewski said.
What’s in JLT Market Reports?
Each JLT manufactured home community rent and occupancy report from Datacomp has detailed information about investment grade communities in the major markets. The detailed information includes:
Number of homesites
Occupancy rates
Average community rents, and increases
Community amenities
Vacant lots
Repossessed and inventory homes, and much more
JLT Market Reports also include management insights that rank communities by the number of homesites, occupancy rates, and highest to lowest rents. Established reports show trends in each market with a comparison of December 2021 rents and occupancy rates to December 2020, as well as a historical recap of rents and occupancy from 1996 to the present date in most markets.
The December 2021 JLT Market Reports for Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee manufactured home communities are available for purchase and immediate download online at the Datacomp JLT Market Report website, or they may be ordered by phone in electronic or printed editions at (800) 588-5426.
Each fully updated report for mobile home communities is a comprehensive look at investment grade properties within a market, enabling owners and managers, lenders, appraisers, brokers, and other organizations to effectively benchmark those communities and make informed business decisions.
UMH President Sam Landy and Vice President Chris Lindsey, far left, honor UMH employees from the corporate office during its 50th anniversary in 2019.
UMH Properties has entered into a joint venture with Nuveen Real Estate for greenfield development and acquisition of new manufactured housing communities.
Nuveen, a TIAA company, brings an initial capital commitment of up to $170 million for the projects. UMH will have a 40% stake in the venture and serve as the managing member and operating member of the joint venture.
UMH will earn customary fees associated with property and asset management, the New Jersey-based company said in a public release.
“We have long been advocates for the development of new communities and are pleased to have found a partner who understands and shares our vision,” UMH President Sam Landy said. “This joint venture gives us the financial capacity to develop and acquire new manufactured housing communities, creating long-term shareholder value while limiting the short-term impact on our FFO during construction and lease-up.”
Landy said Nuveen has an in-depth understanding of the company, the manufactured housing industry, and the real estate market.
“We are excited to work with them to continue our mission of providing the country with a much-needed supply of affordable housing,” he said. “Our country needs at least 5.5 million new homes to keep pace with demand, with that number increasing to 6.8 million when considering obsolescence.
“Through this joint venture, UMH and Nuveen Real Estate intend to make significant investments in developing and acquiring new communities to help to ease the affordable housing crisis.”
UMH Properties will have the right to purchase from the joint venture the communities they plan and develop after a pre-determined period of time.
Potential elements of the deal are three to-be-built communities UMH has entered into agreements on in Florida, the news release stated. The communities are planned for 804 sites and a total purchase price of approximately $90 million.
The first community contains 219 sites and has an approximate purchase price of $23 million, and is scheduled to close in early 2022.
UMH Properties was organized in 1968 and is a public equity real estate investment trust that owns and operates 127 manufactured home communities with 24,000 developed homesites in New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, Maryland, Alabama and South Carolina.
How Owners Have Gained the Upper Hand During the Last 10 Years
Fractured. Scattered. Unorganized. That’s where the mobile home park landscape was 10 years ago. When I first entered the commercial real estate industry just a little over a decade ago, I was looking for one thing… opportunity.
Kevan Enger, a seller-focused broker for manufactured housing communities.
When I looked out into the marketplace, the retail, office, residential, and multifamily asset classes were in full swing, organized, and with well-established marketplaces. However, one property type caught my eye — mobile home parks.
Living in one of the states with the most mobile homes in the country, Florida, I quickly realized there was incredible opportunity right in front of me, and no one else was paying attention. In addition to being fractured, scattered, and unorganized the landscape also was primed.
The Opportunity of Mobile Home Parks
I’m fascinated by the evolution of the mobile home park brokerage landscape. It’s a case study of the capitalistic forces at play that can birth a marketplace where none existed. Back then, there was nothing even resembling a marketplace.
I remember speaking with owners that wanted to sell their property to get a first-hand understanding of the process from the seller’s point of view. Almost all transactions were off-market with many buyers using the phone book to find mobile home parks, and driving around to talk directly to owners.
The more tech-savvy owners were sharing a Word doc with property information and highlight, while others may have a folder or had to gather the information when requested. Because many of the properties had been family-owned and generational, many parks didn’t have formal record-keeping or tracking systems in place.
Owners who wanted to sell their properties, whether to retire or cash out and invest in something else, would either sell to a buyer who approached them, a person they had approached, or they’d list with any real estate agent they knew. Sometimes the agents sold commercial properties, often they sold residential, and every now and then you’d find a broker that had some multifamily experience or had previously sold a manufactured home community. However, in many parts of the country, brokers often had to sell other property types to make any real money in the business.
The lack of a marketplace — what was essentially an off-market environment — put owners at a huge disadvantage as sellers. There was no real credible data by the owners themselves or the market to obtain fair pricing based on comparable sales or even yield since information on market rents, park rent rolls, and occupancy rates were scarce. As a result, owners didn’t have the data to substantiate a higher price. In addition, buyers were scarce, so when one did show interest, they had the upper hand. Here’s why:
Bad rep Back then, mobile home communities were known as trailer parks. Images of run down parks in blighted areas on the outskirts of town were what was popularized in the media so that was the common concept of them.
Lack of financing Blanket mobile home community lending took a huge hit during and after the recession. According to Fannie Mae, after peaking at close to $3 billion in 2007, lending volume dipped below $1 billion in 2010. Most community owners, however, had to hold paper —offer seller financing — to sell their property. From the brokerage standpoint, the lack of financing made it difficult to scale the business, prompting many to stay out of the game altogether.
No competitive bidding The informal, off-market nature of the landscape meant that there was no mechanism for a competitive bidding process. Buyers either directly approached sellers or they used buyer-focused brokers to approach sellers. This meant that there was one buyer, not multiples competitively bidding to win the property. Cap rates were somewhere in the range of 10 or 12% making it a buyers’ market.
Recognizing the disadvantaged position of sellers at the time and the fractured landscape, I saw an opportunity to change the mobile home brokerage landscape with a seller-focused approach. That’s when I joined Capstone Companies, a native multifamily brokerage founded in 2008 in the middle of the Great Recession. As founder and then director of the manufactured housing division, it was exciting to be one of the first companies to treat mobile home parks like a multifamily asset class.
Something From Nothing
Then, the game changed. In the late 2010s, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae got in the game with focused programs to finance manufactured home communities. Much of this was driven by the lack of affordable housing and the need to find suitable housing alternatives. This move alone changed the landscape and we now had a legitimate asset class. CMBS followed suit and the industry was ready.
Suddenly it was easier to buy and sell mobile home parks, more brokerage firms started adding manufactured home reps, and we suddenly had the makings of a mobile home community marketplace.
Even though at our shop we were selling properties on-market and creating a competitive bidding process from day one, many owners and brokers were still following the old, off-market model. However, in those earlier days, brokers would approach sellers as buyer representatives. While transaction volume increased, it didn’t do much for the property values or pricing — and as a result, the seller.
Enter the Institutional Buyers
Institutional money made its biggest dive into the industry in 2018 and that’s when things started heating up.
Sniffing out the tremendous value-add opportunity manufactured housing communities represented, new capital from institutional investors put manufactured housing communities on everyone’s radar.
Suddenly buyers were coming out of the woodwork.
In 2019, we had the clear makings of a sellers market as buyers competed for on-market properties driving values and prices up and cap rates down to historically low levels. Often described as a “recession proof” asset class, institutional interest seemingly justified that positioning.
Institutional capital made waves again last year with a resurgence in investments mid-pandemic placing the capital source second only to private money for the year. Further enhancing the asset class’s recession-proof reputation are 2020’s high-occupancy rates and increased inbound capital from REITs, cross-border, and users.
Last year, the pandemic certainly reinforced that concept.
The COVID Test
Manufactured housing was without question one of the best-performing property types over the last year.
The latest Green Street Commercial Property Price Index places the asset in the top spot in terms of change in commercial property values since pre-Covid with +25%.
Self-storage follows with +24% and the much-touted industrial coming in third place with +21%.
During the last year or so, dating to Aug. 2020, manufactured home parks tied self-storage for first with +30% a piece. Industrial followed with +27%.
MH REITs also performed exceptionally well during the last year. In 2020, according to Hoya Capital, “the combination of robust earnings growth and a favorable ‘Goldilocks’ macroeconomic backdrop of lower interest rates and slow-but-steady domestic-led economic growth has lifted the MH REIT sector by another 12% since the start of the year.”
If that doesn’t pass the pandemic test, I don’t know what does.
On top of that, Hoya Capital noted that “Manufactured Housing REITs were the best-performing real estate sector of the past decade, and it wasn’t particularly close.
“The sector produced cumulative returns that nearly doubled the next closest REIT sector. MH REITs outperformed the REIT average for a remarkable seventh straight year in 2019, surging nearly 50%.”
What is Next?
The next evolutionary phase for the industry is a greater demand for data, more consolidation, and more professionally run operations.
Now squarely in front of investors as an accessible investment opportunity through publicly traded REITs that have outperformed other categories, demand for more data and transparency is inevitable.
There are certainly companies out there, like Datacomp with its market data including JLT Market Reports, its sister company of MHVillage, which produces the MHInsider magazine and this blog, that are recognized as leading and credible sources of proprietary data on the industry. Expect to see the demand for independent third-party research to increase.
In addition, we’ll also see continued consolidation and acquisitions and not just by REITs and institutional investors. Be on the lookout for regional consolidation as professional management starts to implement technological and operational efficiencies and community improvements across assets.
Ten years ago, I was looking for opportunity. Now, 10 years and hundreds of seller-focused sales later, I can say I found it. I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years brings the industry.
U.S. Home Prices Continue to Rise, But at Reduced Rate
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 19.5% annual gain in September, down from 19.8% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 17.8%, down from 18.6% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a 19.1% year-over-year gain, down from 19.6% in the previous month.
“If I had to choose only one word to describe September 2021’s housing price data, the word would be ‘deceleration’,” S&P DJI Managing Director Craig J. Lazzara said. “Housing prices continued to show remarkable strength in September, though the pace of price increases declined slightly.”
Despite the slower rate of growth in home prices, increases continue including strong growth in select markets.
Phoenix, Tampa, and Miami reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in September. Phoenix led the way with a 33.1% year-over-year price increase, followed by Tampa with a 27.7% increase and Miami with a 25.2% increase. Six of the 20 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending September 2021 versus the year ending August 2021.
After seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a month-over-month increase of 1.2%, and the 10-City and 20-City Composites both posted increases of 0.8% and 1.0%, respectively. In September, 19 of the 20 cities reported increases before seasonal adjustments while all 20 cities reported increases after seasonal adjustments.
“We have previously suggested that the strength in the U.S. housing market is being driven by households’ reaction to the COVID pandemic, as potential buyers move from urban apartments to suburban homes,” Lazzara said. “More data will be required to understand whether this demand surge represents simply an acceleration of purchases that would have occurred over the next several years, or reflects a secular change in locational preferences. September’s report is consistent with either explanation.”
A few of the more than 100,000 people attending the International Builder's Show in 2020 take a peek at The Sequoia, one of several models available from the Genesis line of homes by Champion.
Texas continues to be a hot market for manufactured housing, with plenty of new homebuyers flowing into the state, and Skyline Champion Corporation has increased its presence in the Lone Star State with a new manufacturing facility in Navasota.
The 270,000 square-foot plant located in southeast Texas was acquired in June and the operation has been retooled. Hiring is underway, and the first production line will be operational this year. We anticipate opening a second line as the supply chain allows, while eventually growing the total operation to over 250 employees, becoming one of the largest employers in Navasota.
“We’re seeking employees looking to build a career with us… long-term team members that want to be a part of the Champion Homes family,” General Manager Scott Isom said.
Skyline Champion Corporation is the largest independent, publicly traded, factory-built housing company in North America and employs approximately 7,900 people. It operates 40 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and western Canada.
In addition to building homes, the company operates a factory-direct retail business, Titan Factory Direct, with 18 retail locations spanning the southern United States, and Star Fleet Trucking, providing transportation services to the manufactured housing and other industries from several dispatch locations across the United States.
Skyline Champion sells manufactured homes, modular homes, ADUs, and park model RVs under more than a dozen brand names.
West Mersea Holiday Park, Essex, Oyster Island. Courtesy photo.
Michigan-based Company Enter UK Market with Leading Communities Platform
Sun Communities has announced its entry into a definitive agreement to acquire Park Holidays UK for approximately $1.3 billion.
Park Holidays is the second largest owner and operator of holiday communities in the UK, with 40 owned and operated communities and an additional two managed communities. The majority of the communities are located in highly desirable, seaside locations in the South of England, within a short drive of London and other affluent Southern UK cities. Park Holidays represents a natural extension of Sun’s existing businesses and portfolio, complements Sun’s strategy and areas of expertise, diversifies its geographic presence, and is expected to generate resilient cash flows.
Park Holidays’ experienced operating team, led by CEO Jeff Sills, will continue to run day-to-day operations under Sun’s ownership.
The UK community owner has a proven ability to source and execute both internal expansion and external growth opportunities. Park Holidays primarily rents sites for owner-occupied vacation homes on annual contracts, as well as sells vacation homes to new customers. The acquisition, which is expected to be accretive to 2022 Core FFO per share, will represent approximately 7% of the Company’s properties and 8% of its total pro forma real estate asset value.
“We are incredibly excited to expand Sun’s footprint into the UK by acquiring Park Holidays, which allows us to leverage our land lease community expertise in a growing market. This transaction provides Sun with immediate scale in the UK as well as a platform for future growth in a fragmented landscape. We have completed significant strategy and research work in the UK with advisers prior to this opportunity, and feel confident that its long-term macroeconomic stability and fundamentals make the UK a very favorable destination in which to expand the Sun Communities platform internationally,” Sun Communities Chairman and CEO Gary A. Shiffman said. “Park Holidays has many parallels with Sun, such as its strong portfolio, its focus on growth, and a management approach that is consistent with ours. Under the leadership of Jeff Sills and his highly experienced senior management team, who have led the company since 2006, Park Holidays has created a strong brand given the quality of its assets and stellar customer service. Its management team has a proven track record of acquiring and expanding properties, efficiently integrating them into the platform, and creating significant value in a short period of time.”
John B. McLaren is Sun Communities President and COO.
“As we performed our diligence and underwriting processes, we were thrilled to discover how similar our MH and RV business models are to Park Holidays’ operations and expect to apply our deep expertise to this new market and thereby accelerate our growth,” he said. “Overall, the holiday park sector in the UK is an overwhelmingly domestic market and very similar to both the MH and RV industries in the U.S.
There are several compelling tailwinds that make us excited to enter the UK market as it has demonstrated consistent, steady growth through economic cycles and is currently benefiting from a rising interest in premium outdoor vacations and second home purchases as well as a number of high barriers to entry given limited land availability and zoning restrictions,” McLaren added. “Over time, we intend to use this platform to continue to scale in the UK market, just as we have successfully done in the U.S.”
The UK holiday park industry is an approximately $3.7 billion market that has demonstrated resilient growth through previous economic cycles. As in the US, it has benefited from robust growth in demand for domestic outdoor holidays which has been further accelerated by Brexit and COVID. According to industry sources, the UK holiday parks market is expected to see a compounded annual growth of approximately 8% from 2019 to 2021 and approximately 6% from 2021 to 2025. The UK market is highly fragmented and prime for consolidation over time, as platforms with 10 or more properties account for only about 7% of total properties.
“Joining Sun is an exciting new chapter for Park Holidays as we seek to continue to execute on a well-established and proven strategy to drive organic and inorganic growth. Our companies have a lot in common as we both strive to achieve the best experience for our customers and colleagues, and we are excited by the opportunity to work and collaborate with the Sun team. Our business has delivered strong and consistent growth through economic cycles, as we have built a unique portfolio of well-located assets and a sustainable and diversified business model with industry-leading operating metrics. By joining Sun, we plan to continue to consolidate a fragmented industry and provide the Park Holidays experience to an expanding customer base,” said Jeff Sills, Park Holidays CEO.
For the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2021, Park Holidays generated $54.84 million in earnings before tax, interest, depreciation, and amortization.
The transaction values Park Holidays UK at an enterprise value of approximately $1.3 million. The selling shareholders will receive Sun fcommon stock equal to approximately $34 million, and the remainder of consideration will be in cash. In connection with the acquisition, the company entered into a commitment letter with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. to lend more than $1.2 million under a new senior unsecured bridge loan to fund the cash portion of the acquisition. The transaction is subject to a required regulatory approval, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.
Manufactured housing community JLT Market Reports from Datacomp for November 2021 mobile home rent comps, occupancy, and other vital data from Idaho, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington are now available for purchase and immediate download.
JLT Market Reports provide detailed research and information on communities in 187 housing markets throughout the United States. These include the latest rent trends and statistics, marketing programs, and a variety of other useful management insights.
Datacomp maintains and provides the JLT Market Reports and is the nation’s #1 provider of market data for the manufactured housing industry. JLT Market Reports are recognized as the industry standard for manufactured home community market analysis.
The November 2021 manufactured housing market data published in JLT Market Reports for Idaho, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington include information from 10 markets on 294 “All ages” and “55+” manufactured home communities.
Altogether, the reports from the four states’ manufactured home communities include data representations for 51,026 homesites.
Regional Trends in Manufactured Housing Community Rent
Midwest region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 3% increase in rent and a 1.6% increase in occupancy.
Pacific region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 3.4% increase in rent and a 0.4% increase in occupancy.
West region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 4.3% increase in rent and a 0.8% increase in occupancy.
“Data derived from the November 2021 JLT Market Reports shows a considerable amount of stability year over year. Some markets in the west may be showing the beginning of some inflationary pressure, likely a mix of market reactions to monetary policy, adjustments from the expiration of eviction moratoriums, and continued pipeline disruptions with material cost increases,” Datacomp Co-President and Chief Business Development Officer Darren Krolewski said.
What’s in JLT Market Reports?
Each JLT manufactured home community rent and occupancy report from Datacomp has detailed information about investment grade communities in the major markets. The detailed information includes:
Number of homesites
Occupancy rates
Average community rents, and increases
Oregon rent control and next increase data
Community amenities
Vacant lots
Repossessed and inventory homes, and much more
JLT Market Reports also include management insights that rank communities by the number of homesites, occupancy rates, and highest to lowest rents. Established reports show trends in each market with a comparison of November 2021 rents and occupancy rates to November 2020, as well as a historical recap of rents and occupancy from 1996 to the present date in most markets.
The November 2021 JLT Market Reports for Idaho, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington manufactured home communities are available for purchase and immediate download online at the Datacomp JLT Market Report website, or they may be ordered by phone in electronic or printed editions at (800) 588-5426.
Each fully updated report for mobile home communities is a comprehensive look at investment grade properties within a market, enabling owners and managers, lenders, appraisers, brokers, and other organizations to effectively benchmark those communities and make informed business decisions.
Energy efficiency is a strong point for manufactured homes, particularly homes built during the last dozen years. Nearly every builder of HUD-code homes has improved its standard energy efficiency and rolled out myriad options for products that help with sustainability in energy transfer and cost reduction.
Manufactured home builders pack every bit of R-value they can into a home, knowing it will be a prime tool in marketing the homes because it will help reduce monthly costs for the buyer.
Our builders hit the mark on efficient housing, including when it comes to energy, from the way materials are shipped and stored to a manufacturing facility, to efficiencies on the line, and the quality of products used within well-designed floorplans.
A 2021 model home from Cavco Industries.
Department of Energy Conservation Standards for Manufactured Housing
Manufactured housing industry leaders have found a unified voice in helping policymakers in Washington, D.C., to understand that the energy efficiency standard being discussed would be counterproductive for factory-built homes, and would impede the availability of affordable homes going to market.
The Manufactured Housing Institute, in responding to the energy department and garnering support to oppose the changes, is quick to point out that the industry supports energy efficiency. The problem lies in how the department proposes to implement those efficiencies.
“The current DOE proposal is fundamentally flawed and must be completely rewritten to ensure manufactured homes remain an available option for American families,” MHI said in a published statement on Oct. 21 “If the proposed rule is finalized as written, it will eliminate manufactured housing as an affordable housing option for hundreds of thousands of potential homebuyers.
“The DOE proposal would dramatically increase the costs of manufactured homes, and in some areas of the country, will make the construction and transportation of homes nearly impossible. The proposal uses the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, which was developed for commercial and site-built residential buildings and ignores all the construction aspects unique to manufactured housing.”
MHI and the industry collectively ask the energy department to recognize the HUD Code as a starting point for construction and safety standards of manufactured homes. Further, the advocacy group points to sections of the DOE changes outlined in its final rule that would work in opposition to the White House plan to close the housing gap in five years. Some of the energy changes would hinder production timelines, and increase cost to the homebuyer.
More than 1,500 manufactured housing professionals are expected in Las Vegas April 7-9 as the Manufactured Housing Institute’s Congress and Expo returns to the...
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