HUD proposal a potential game-changer for manufactured homes

Listen to this article

The federal government shared a proposed rule that will change the definition of manufactured homes and allow more options for different house types. While Wisconsin searches for ways to expand access to housing, experts in the panelized and manufacturing construction industries said the changes will give manufactured homes a broader appeal.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published a proposed rule that would change the definition of manufactured homes to allow upper floor sections to be moved and built without a permanent chassis, or the undercarriage that supports a manufactured home.

The proposed rule would change several existing regulations including the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, or the HUD Code. Under current rules, the upper floor of a manufactured home must be moveable or built on a permanent chassis.

The proposed definition would allow larger single-family homes and multi-family housing to be built as homebuyers and developers want more design options. Because manufactured homes can be built under a universal building code instead of local standards, builders said they can be designed and built at lower costs.

According to the Federal Register, lifting the chassis requirement could save between $3,300 to $4,600 in production costs and save consumers $4,776 to $6,672 for costs associated with chassis materials, transportation, installation and labor. HUD estimates chassis requirements add costs from $4,800 to $6,700 per unit when installing a multistory home.

More than 20 million Americans live in manufactured homes and the industry employs tens of thousands of people, according to HUD.

The Wisconsin Realtors Association said the state must build around 140,000 new housing units by 2030 to meet demand. Due to expected workforce shortages in the future, the number grows to 200,000.

In Wisconsin, there are several manufacturing facilities that make manufactured and modular homes, or homes built to state codes.

Around 1,000 manufactured homes built to the HUD code and 350 modular homes built to state code are produced in the state each year, said Amy Bliss, the executive director of the Wisconsin Housing Alliance.

“These proposed changes at the federal level will greatly benefit the industry,” Bliss said. “First, with the proposed removal of the steel chassis, it will make it much easier to place homes on a basement foundation or create new design options such as two-story homes built to the federal HUD Code.”

Chris Tatge, co-owner of Stoughton-based DC Materials and past president of the National Framers Council, said manufactured homes are a “great solution for a very limited application where quick and cost-efficient housing solutions are needed after natural disasters or in economically distressed communities.”

Expanding the definition of manufactured homes would create a broader appeal as it allows builders to offer more options than single-wide or double-wide homes, he added.

“The real challenge is that this directly competes against what volumetric modular is today,” Tatge said. “Modular units are fully constructed in a manufacturing facility and must fit on the back of a truck to be transported to a job site. The big difference is that modular units are specifically designed and built to local code requirements. While it’s a stretch to say each modular unit is bespoke like structural building components are for each project, there still are modifications made to units to comply with local codes.”

In July 2025, Congress drafted a bipartisan bill called the Housing Supply Expansion Act to change the requirement for a manufactured home to have a permanent chassis. No action has been taken yet.