Op-Ed: Making Housing More Affordable Through Modular Construction

An op-ed in The Architect’s Newspaper by Jordan Rogove and Wayne Norbeck argues that simplifying building and zoning codes for modular housing could help ease the housing crisis and provide more affordable housing units in a shorter amount of time than traditional construction. According to the authors, “Typically 15 to 20 percent less expensive per square foot than traditional site-built homes of similar quality, modular housing is less expensive because it is built in controlled factory settings with less waste and lower labor costs.”

The authors note that “there are inherent obstacles to purchasing and building modular homes, and this stems from archaic building regulations, many written more than 50 years ago.” In their experience, building codes vary too much from place to place, making it difficult and expensive to build modular housing. “A singular code for all modular building projects, similar to the model set by HUD, would have an enormous impact on the availability of homes in a country experiencing an unprecedented housing shortage.”

While the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a Minimum Property Standard rule that supersedes local regulations in 36 states, the problem with HUD’s code, from the authors’ perspective, is that “HUD mandates that homes must be manufactured on a chassis, or trailer—a remnant of the trailer industry’s approach to building in the 1970s when this exception was codified.” Effectively, this stifles innovation and prevents the construction of several types of modular homes.

The authors support the proposed federal Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act, which would alter regulations to change the language about chassis construction and open up more opportunities to make modular homes more affordable for builders and homebuyers.