Congress Moves to Ditch the Chassis Rule

Lawmakers may finally acknowledge that "mobile homes" don't really go anywhere. A wide-ranging federal housing bill advancing in Congress would scrap a 1974 rule that every manufactured home sit on a permanent steel chassis—hardware that was designed to make it easier to roll homes from place to place, but now mostly adds cost and design limits. Industry groups and housing advocates say ditching the frame could make the homes up to 9%, or about $10,000, cheaper, per Pew Charitable Trusts. It could also make it easier to fashion a two-story duplex by stacking them. One developer tells the New York Times it would enable factory-made homes to be brought to narrow urban lots where less expensive housing is in short supply.

Supporters also argue it could chip away at the stigma tied to trailer parks by letting these homes more closely resemble site-built houses—and potentially help buyers qualify for standard mortgages instead of more expensive chattel loans, which apply to movable personal property. Not everyone is cheering: modular home builders warn the change would blur the line between their higher-cost, locally regulated product and manufactured homes. The House and Senate have each passed versions of the bill and must now align them; backers say the bipartisan focus on more affordable housing gives it a real shot.