Trump Administration Unveils New Steps To Bolster Manufactured Housing

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to fast-track manufactured housing construction, bolstered by changes to the law this year.HUD on Wednesday unveiled an action plan to accelerate manufactured housing building. It wants to update energy efficiency standards, update design and construction codes, and help scale the industry. HUD's plan follows other federal efforts to make it cheaper to build manufactured housing more generally.The bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act signed into law this year eliminated the requirement that homes be built on a permanent steel chassis. That's a bid to shave down construction costs. In a complementary move, HUD started to amend its own code to allow multistory manufactured housing, which would allow larger homes to be delivered on-site.Experts believe manufactured housing—ranging from pre-fab building materials to factory-assembled homes—is a kind of alternative building that can mean cheaper homes. But manufactured housing is a niche product fighting a stigma, and experts think it needs awareness and financial support to take off.The chassis requirement is a much-hailed change. Experts say most manufactured homes neve...