AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS: BIG GOVERNMENT RENT SUBSIDIES OR PRIVATE SECTOR SOLUTIONS INCLUDING MANUFACTURED HOMEOWNERSHIP?
2020 Democrats are beginning to reveal their plans to address the escalating U.S.affordable housing crisis. The earlier campaign discussions and debate have been devoted to other issues, such as health care, the border, and the immigration crisis.
Early snapshots of leading Democrat candidate proposed remedies to housing affordability are more “big government’ policies, such as accelerating rent subsidies, currently 25% of lower-income renters, and/or cash money grants for those residing in impoverished minority neighborhoods, according to an online report by Independent Journal Review (IJR)
Few, if any, of the presidential candidates, have addressed affordable homeownership, and none have acknowledged the role of today’s modern high quality manufactured home, the only affordable non-subsidized single-family home in the nation.
For any of the 2020 candidates to implement their “big government” plans, they must first defeat Donald Trump. His administration has a different approach to addressing the cost of housing.
The Trump administration also includes the use of rent subsidies as a partial fix to the housing crisis but believes that a “supply-side” private sector approach is key to solving the scarcity of available affordable housing, with manufactured housing, an important element that embraces the uniquely American dream of family homeownership.
The Trump administration is attempting to address the cost of homeownership from the supply side, hoping more housing will drive down the prices. The manufactured housing industry is producing quality built homes equal in every respect to site-built at a cost of 40 to 50% less than a comparable site-built, wholeheartedly endorsed by leadership at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD SECRETARY BEN CARSON CONTINUES TO PROMOTE MANUFACTURED HOUSING TO ADDRESS U.S. HOME OWNERSHIP AFFORDABILITY.
Secretary Ben Carson has, from the beginning of his tenure as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has specifically championed the importance of private sector utilization, including manufactured homes, in easing of the nation’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis.
Recently in an interview on Fox News The Story with Martha McCallum, Secretary Carson expressed his confidence in the utilization of manufactured housing, including tiny homes and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in addressing both affordable homeownership and mitigating the causes of homelessness.
In an op-ed to the Washington Post, Carson explained his focus on increasing the focus on the housing supply rather than turning to solutions like renter’s tax credits, writing:
“For too long, Federal policy has focused solely on helping people increasing spending on rental assistance. As a doctor, I can tell you; there are symptoms of a patient who needs another prescription — one that focuses on the reasons housing costs are increasing.”
The HUD Secretary correctly has pointed out on several occasions that local land use, zoning, and regulatory barriers are some time contributors to the causes of the affordable home crises, especially with the acceptance of manufactured homes.
For more of Dr. Carson’s views on manufactured homes, click our previous posts, “DR. Ben Carson Touts Manufactured Home Affordability and Durability at Innovative Housing Showcase on National Mall” – and – “Ben Carson: Manufactured Homes Are No Longer For Trailer Parks”
