According to left-leaning Bing’s AI powered Copilot, which included references to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC): “In 2024, the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that there is a shortage of 7.3 million affordable and available rental homes in the U.S. for renters with extremely low incomes²³⁴⁵.” In Part II, MHProNews will cite data per the NLIHC on how many affordable housing units are needed in all 50 states. Part I of today’s ‘sandwich’ style report is from the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) with the total national manufactured home production for November 2024 year-to-date as well as the top ten shipment states. Then, following the NLIHC data on how many housing units are needed per state are the shipments and production for every one of the United States (U.S.), including Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. (routinely zero).  Some added facts with analysis follow those three sections in Part IV.

 

Part I

HUD CODE PRODUCTION INCREASES IN NOVEMBER 2024

Washington, D.C., January 9, 2025 – The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) reports that according to official statistics compiled on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), HUD Code manufactured housing industry year-over-year production increased in November 2024. Just-released statistics indicate that HUD Code manufacturers produced 8,597 new homes in November 2024, a 10.6% increase over the 7,769 new HUD Code homes produced in November 2023. Cumulative production for 2024 now totals 96,236 homes, a 16.2% increase over the 82,809 HUD Code homes produced over the same period in 2023.

A further analysis of the official industry statistics shows that the top ten shipment states from January 2023 — with monthly, cumulative, current reporting year (2024) and prior year (2023) shipments per category as indicated — are:

 

The November 2024 statistics result in no changes to the cumulative top-ten list.

The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform is a Washington, D.C.- based national trade association representing the views and interests of independent producers of federally-regulated manufactured housing.

— 30 —

 

Part II Per the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) by State.

Each state begins its report using this format as provided by NLIHC for AL.

“Across Alabama, there is a shortage of rental homes affordable and available to extremely low income households, whose incomes are at or below the poverty guideline or 30% of their area median income. Many of these households are severely cost burdened, spending more than half of their income on housing. Severely cost burdened poor households are more likely than other renters to sacrifice other necessities like healthy food and healthcare to pay the rent, and to experience unstable housing situations like evictions.”

Note that in what follows, MHProNews has shifted the description over the numerical data for clarity, but the information is as produced by NLIHC. Bold is added by MHProNews on the number of housing units needed.

1) Alabama Key Facts.

Renter households that are extremely low income

Despite a proven track record, federal housing programs are chronically underfunded. Just one in four households eligible for federal housing assistance actually receive the help they need, leaving the rest to struggle to afford the cost of rent.

NLIHC is also a Steering Committee member of the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding, a coalition of over 75 national organizations working together to ensure robust resources to address America’s housing crisis.

A source that worked in the nonprofit world told MHProNews that after serving in a role akin to that of the NLIHC that one day that professional came to the realization that if their organization solved the problems, they said they were working on, that they would all be out of a job.  Apply that notion to NLIHC. They advocate for more spending on more housing subsidies. They claim that it is proven to work, but they also admit that only 1 in 4 people that qualify actually get the funding that they need. For 50 years, they have been doing their advocacy, per their own claims. Yet, the problems they claim to want to address remain.

Founded in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, NLIHC educates, organizes, and advocates to ensure decent, affordable housing for everyone.

Our goals are to preserve existing federally assisted homes and housing resources, expand the supply of low-income housing, and establish housing stability as the primary purpose of federal low-income housing policy.

NLIHC’s staff teams work together to achieve our advocacy goals. Our research team studies trends and analyzes data to create a picture of the need for low-income housing across the country. The policy team educates lawmakers about housing needs and analyzes and shapes public policy. Our field team mobilizes members and supporters across the country to advocate for good housing policy. Our communications team shapes public opinion about low-income housing issues, and our administration team works to ensure that NLIHC remains a sustainable, high-capacity organization.

MHProNews observes that the NLIHC is quite aware of manufactured housing. They have provided an advocacy sheet for several years on manufactured housing. The one for 2024 is linked here. While it has several useful and pro-manufactured housing points, it also lacks some critical information, such as an apparent reference to the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (a.k.a.: MHIA, MHIA 2000, 2000 Reform Act, 2000 Reform Law) or its “enhanced preemption” provision.  It is almost as if NLIHC and Prosperity Now (which produced the document NLIHC shared) provide information that may lack key solutions that are already federal law. More on that concern shortly.

 

6) From NLIHC annual report for 2023 is the following.

NLIHC PARTNERS AND KEY CONGRESSIONAL 

CHAMPIONS SECURE INCREASED FUNDING FOR

HUD PROGRAMS IN FY24 SPENDING BILL DESPITE TIGHT TOPLINE NUMBERS

Following advocacy by

NLIHC and our partners, President Biden and HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge released a full fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget request in March calling for increased funding for affordable housing and homelessness resources using two approaches: modest funding increases to HUD programs through the regular appropriations process, and major investments in housing through mandatory spending proposals. Through the regular appropriations process, the president’s budget called for funding HUD programs at $73.3 billion, an approximately $1.1 billion – or 1.6% – increase over FY23 enacted funding.

While celebrating their claimed role in the above, as MHProNews has periodically reported, the Biden-Harris (D) administration and former HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge clearly didn’t advance solutions that worked. Who says? Their own annual report on homelessness to Congress which reported a record number of homeless.

 

 

7) From the research found at this link here and here is the source data based on official sources that yields the following math on the number of HUD Code manufactured homes produced during the years as shown.

New Manufactured Home Years	Total Manufactured Housing Units Produced for Years Shown on left divided by number of years.	Average Annual Production for Years Shown
1995-2000	2,033,545/ 6 = 338,924.166667	338924
2001-2023	2,230,400/23 = 96,973.9130435	96974

 

338,924.166667 (avg production from 1995-2000) – 96,973.9130435 (average production from 2001 to 2023) = 241,950.253624.

So, the average annual production shortage from 2001 to 2023 was: 241,950.253624.  That is measured against the baseline production of 1995-2000.

241,950.253624 x 23 = 5,564,855.83335.  That 5.5+ million total manufactured home shortfall from 2001-2023 vs. 1995 to 2000 is roughly equal to the estimates some advance for the number of housing units needed in the U.S. For example.  Prominent MHI member Cavco Industries (CVCO) said in their investor relations pitch that there is a 6 million unit annual shortfall.  Common estimates seen by this publication on the number of housing units needed range from about 4 to 10 million housing units.  With the NLIHC in mind, their estimate for 7.3 million affordable ‘rental’ housing units thus fits into that common range. 

 

 

 

According to Copilot on this date: “The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) receives funding from various sources, including federal grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)….” and “NLIHC primarily receives funding from foundations, government grants, and individual donors.” At least two of those organizations are tied to manufactured housing.

• MANUFACTURED HOME OWNERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY
• ROC USA

 

8) Per the NLIHC website is this.

Increasing access to affordable housing bolsters economic growth.

Research shows that the shortage of affordable housing costs the American economy about $2 trillion a year in lower wages and productivity. Without affordable housing, families have constrained opportunities to increase earnings, causing slower GDP growth.

That $2 trillion-dollar annual financial drag on the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figure has been cited several times by MHProNews and other sources, including, Cavco in that graphic above.

 

 

9) Per the NLIHC website on this date:

• Study Finds Less Restrictive Zoning Regulations Increase Housing Supply…
• From a document linked here are the following (no mention of manufactured homes in this NLIHC document).
• Local governments use zoning and land use regulations to control which types of housing are permissible in which locations. Thirty years ago, HUD identified biases in residential zoning for lower density single-family housing and against multifamily housing that were significant barriers to affordable housing (HUD, 1991).
• THE IMPACTS OF LOCAL ZONING
  The exclusion of higher-density housing like
  apartment buildings in favor of single-family
  homes is not the only local zoning practice
  that constrains the housing supply. Other
  restrictions within the zoning code like minimum
  lot sizes, set-back requirements, and parking
  requirements can constrain supply and raise
  prices, because they typically increase the
  amount of land needed for each home.

10) Those items in bullet 9 above may be true, but they obviously fail to paint a more complete picture. Do researchers and editors for NLIHC not check their own website for relevant items before they publish on a topic like zoning and its impact on the lack of affordable housing?  Why is there no mention of preemption and the role it could play in removing barriers to the affordable housing crisis?

11) There is a complex web of relationships that could be unraveled in a possible future report.  But among the possible takeaways from what is provided herein are the following. In no particular order of importance are the following.

a) NLIHC knows that manufactured homes are important, they have said as much by posting several items provided by pro-manufactured housing Prosperity Now.

b) NLIHC knows that the lack of affordable housing is costing the economy about $2 trillion dollars a year. They have said as much on their own website.

c) NLIHC should know that housing subsidizes may benefit some individuals but are demonstrably not the long-term solution to the affordable housing crisis.

d) Per Copilot, HUD apparently helps fund the NLIHC, and each cites the other. That is an apparent conflict of interest when it comes to reporting, unless it is clearly disclosed at the relevant pages/points. As a parallel, MHProNews has its sponsors clearly posted on virtually every page of this website. MHProNews has also said scores of times that our editorial views and analysis are our own, and not those of others.

e) Subsidized housing has been backed into mentality of our Republic for decades. But after 50 years, it should be obvious that housing subsidizes have never sold the affordable housing crisis and never will.

 

 

f) MHProNews believes that what former MHI chairman Tim Williams said should be that association’s protocol ought to be routinely and robustly put to work. Namely, that any time incorrect information is found it should be publicly responded to and exposed for what it is.  The fact that Williams/MHI has apparently not done that doesn’t diminish the value of that principle.

 

g) For that matter, Williams also said that the progressive agenda was a problem for the U.S. and the manufactured home industry. Apparently, MHI needs a reminder of that power point that Williams presented at an MHI meeting, and which Williams had a staffer at 21st Mortgage Corporation provide to MHProNews.

 

 

h) MHProNews has periodically cited Heritage.org because they routinely provided good research and reports. But when MHProNews stumbled upon this from Heritage, we published an item to correct that (see Part II in the article below).

 

 

While all of it is significant, Part II in the article linked below is about the manufactured home related item shown in the screen capture above.

 

 

i) Manufactured housing’s upside is extraordinary. Perhaps few sectors of the U.S. economy have as much potential and promise as HUD Code manufactured homes. As MHProNews has previously reported, billions in possible factory-built alternatives have been invested in the U.S. with nothing yet that is domestically produced that rivals the price-point of a modern mainstream manufactured home.

 

j) MHI is demonstrably doing a terrible job at their own claimed role in the industry. Who says? Many have, including state association affiliate members and MHI members, past and present.

 

 

 

 

NLIHC has a mixed bag of useful and problematic research that may be driven at least in part by a self-serving agenda. MHI does too, because they appear to be more focused on industry consolidation.

MHProNews will continue to report on the ways that manufactured housing is misunderstood, improperly or incompletely represented, and why it is the most proven solution to the affordable housing crisis in the U.S.

 

 

The following are relevant flashback reports.