This Week in Manufactured Housing News: October 20th-26th, 2018

This week has been a big one for manufactured housing’s Resident Owned Communities (ROCs) across the United States, as an ever-increasing number of tenants and neighbors are banding together to purchase not just their own manufactured homes, but their entire communities. What else has been happening in the pre-fab world? Read on, right this way.

ROCs Rock! In Massachusetts, the residents of an over-55 community joined forces to become the official owner-tenants of their entire manufactured housing park. A piece profiling the leaders behind the movement from the Christian Science Monitor also does a strong job of explaining the recent surge of interest in purchasing manufactured housing parks.

Election Day is Coming. In California, manufactured housing advocates are eyeing Proposition 1, which hopes to help with the state’s current affordable housing crisis and has the ability to provide upwards of $300 million for mortgage assistance and manufactured home construction.

Where There’s Smoke… It’s always a good thing when local newspapers remind readers about the importance of fire safety tips specific to manufactured homes, like this piece out of Washington.

ROCs Rock! (Pt. 2) And in Kalispell, Montana, another manufactured housing community has successfully become resident-owned.

Third Time’s the Charm! Rounding out a trifecta of ROC-themed stories this week, an op-ed from the director of the Resident Owned Communities of New Hampshire in the New Hampshire Business Review sheds lights on the virtues of manufactured homes: “We have an affordable-housing shortage, and folks way smarter than I have pointed to manufactured housing as one solution. It makes sense, and for this housing to realize its potential, professionals who sit on planning and zoning boards, city councils and select boards owe it to their communities to understand the realities of modern manufactured homes.”