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21st Century ROAD to Housing Act targets barriers to off-site building
The act would direct HUD to remove obstacles including draw-schedule rigidity, FHA loan limits, and inconsistent state and local building codes that can slow factory-built homes.
HousingWire reports that the recently passed 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act includes provisions meant to reduce regulatory and financing barriers to off-site construction, with sections 302 and 303 aimed at code standardization, construction draw schedules, and updates tied to FHA financing.
The article notes that off-site construction, including modular and other factory-built approaches, accounts for just three out of 100 newly built U.S. homes annually, citing the National Association of Home Builders, as housing affordability pressure and a worsening shortage of affordable homes keep lawmakers focused on supply expansion.
Frank Cassidy, now a Senior Managing Director at Walker & Dunlop and previously commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration and Assistant Secretary at HUD until June, argues that affordability will not improve without building more homes faster and at lower cost, saying subsidies alone cannot solve a housing shortage.
The legislation also aims to spur factory-built and manufactured housing growth by removing a permanent chassis requirement for manufactured housing, while Section 302 directs HUD to identify and eliminate barriers such as rigid draw schedules, FHA loan limits, and inconsistent or inefficient building codes across states and localities.