Subsidized Housing vs. MHCs from an MHC Owner’s Perspective

I could believe that a lot of community owners are unaware of the subsidized housing threat. Unless you live in a city large enough to be targeted by developers and unless you are living in a state with a very active Finance Authority, you may not see what is coming down the pike.

However, if Des Moines Iowa is any example, "affordable/subsidized" housing, is coming on "Big Time" and killing both HUD manufactured housing sales and rentals.

It is likely that this will expand out into the smaller and smaller communities over time. Most "affordable/subsidized housing" is new, upscale, geothermal, and well below market. If it is not new, they are able to get millions in government grants to renovate—I don't believe community owners have access to federal or state "renovation grants.”

I can hardly turn on the TV without a least a weekly pronouncement by some politician or city councilman that, "We need more affordable housing!" Of course, what they are really saying is, "We need more subsidized housing.”

But as might be surmised, if they told the truth, the reception of that statement would be very different.

"Affordable/subsidized" housing is NOT affordable to the majority, who pay for it. In part, I fault MHI for some of our impending "affordable/subsidized" housing problems. Why, without so much as a whimper have they allowed subsidized housing to steal our "affordable housing" label? To call subsidized housing "affordable" is perverse and Orwellian, yet MHI says NOTHING. ##

Margaret Clark
co-owner of Grand Lake View Retirement MHC
grandlakeview.com
grandlakeview@gmail.com

(Editor's Note: This column was submitted in response to the following Masthead blog post, Your Thoughts on “I Am Affordable Housing.” We welcome other perspectives on this topic or others of industry interest. Editorially speaking, we are unable to accurately comment at this time on what efforts MHI or the NCC may have in motion on this subject.)