Overcoming Barriers to Manufactured Housing: Promising Approaches from Five Case Studies

Manufactured housing holds promise as an affordable form of housing that could expand homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income households at a time when house value growth is outpacing income gains in markets across the country. A 2023 report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies showed that manufactured homes offer a significant cost advantage over comparable site-built homes. In a second report published early this year, the Center identified five key barriers to greater adoption of this form of housing for affordable homeownership. This study, the third and final in this series, features case studies of five organizations from the for-profit, nonprofit and public sectors that are leading efforts to expand the use of manufactured housing in markets where these homes have not been widely used. Drawing on these examples, the study concludes with lessons for other organizations seeking to expand the use of manufactured housing.