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Secretary Ben Carson Speaks at MHI Congress and Expo

Photo: Lisa Stewart Photography
We got the following press release from The Manufactured Housing Institute today:
Today, at MHI’s 2019 Congress & Expo in New Orleans, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson reaffirmed his commitment to manufactured housing. Addressing over 1,400 manufactured housing professionals, Secretary Carson said, “manufactured housing is an active ingredient in the medication we are prescribing for a stronger America.” MHI’s continuous and productive outreach to HUD resulted in the Secretary’s strong remarks in favor of manufactured housing. This is the second year in a row that Secretary Carson addressed MHI’s Congress and Expo. In addition, last Wednesday, he spoke to HUD’s Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee in Washington, D.C. 

Telling attendees the nation’s housing shortage is an issue of supply and demand and that HUD’s strategy is focused on increasing supply, Secretary Carson stated: “Since the key constraint on supply is the cost of new construction and development, the solution to the problem is to change the cost side of the equation. Manufactured housing has emerged out of the limestone and stepped into the limelight, to address precisely this need.” 

While extolling the affordability of manufactured housing, Secretary Carson highlighted the benefits of land-lease manufactured home communities saying that they “combine affordability with a sense of neighborhood and lifestyle.”

Secretary Carson said, “The fact that manufactured homes can be so beautifully done – and in fact are often indistinguishable from site-built homes – is manufactured housing’s best-kept secret. Well, HUD believes that secret should be shared.” 

A top priority of MHI is expediting changes to the HUD Code. Through ongoing outreach with the Administration, HUD, and Congress, MHI has repeatedly said the regulatory climate for manufactured housing at HUD must be improved so that regulatory requirements do not increase costs or add unnecessary hurdles to the production of quality, affordable manufactured housing. Secretary Carson acknowledged MHI’s efforts, stating the Department is “currently evaluating our Office of Policy Development and Research’s recent recommendation to expedite the manufactured home code-making process within HUD, which could better help HUD Standards keep pace with new industry innovations and techniques.”

Wrapping up his remarks to attendees, Secretary Carson stated: “Manufactured housing is a vital part of HUD’s prescription to make safe, quality, desirable, affordable homes available to millions of hard-working Americans. The foundations of a better tomorrow are built with the new techniques and new technologies of today, and for manufactured housing, that time is now.”

MHI appreciates Secretary Carson’s prioritization of manufactured housing and will continue to strongly advocate that HUD support the industry’s efficient production of quality homes with features that consumers want at an affordable price. 

If you have any questions, please contact MHI's Government Affairs Department at
(703) 229-6208 or MHIgov@mfghome.org.

Mobile Home Makeovers

We know... mobile homes is not PC terminology in the manufactured housing industry, but we've found that a large part of the buying public still uses that term to describe our homes. So instead of fighting them, we are joining them, and have started our new series, Mobile Home Makeovers.

The Bayside Before
The Bayside After
Lifestylist Suzanne Felber has a passion for taking model homes that aren't living up to their potential and to turn them into homes that customers can see themselves living in. Our biggest compliment is when they want to buy the model home furniture and all!

We also see this as a way to introduce people to what today's manufactured homes offer, and to show why you should be living in a manufactured home.