Manufactured Housing Reform
Advocating for better homes and neighborhoods
Reinvestment Partners is seeking to promote reinvestment in manufactured housing. This is a popular form of housing at affordable prices.
One in six North Carolinians lives in manufactured housing. There are issues - from lack of consumer protections to issues around asset building - but also plenty of opportunities.
The Burnsville Land Community has been redeveloped as a non-profit, controlled by residents and community
leaders, to provide affordable and secure housing for fourteen families in Yancey County, North Carolina.
Legislative Advocacy
Reinvestment Partners participated in several legislative efforts to help residents of manufactured housing. Two bills passed in the North Carolina General Assembly in 2008.
- Rep. Phillip Haire's bill on abandoned homes (H1134) was passed in the Appropriations Act.
- Rep. Susan Fisher's bill to prevent the displacement of manufactured homes (H1700) passed, giving park owners that sell their communities to residents (through a co-op or a non-profit) a 5 percent deduction.
Park Acquisition and Rehabilitation
Reinvestment Partners has partnered with two other groups to create the first non-profit owned manufactured housing park in North Carolina.
Through funding from BB&T and grants from several sources, the park provides affordable housing for fourteen families in Burnsville, North Carolina. View a slideshow of the Park in Burnsville. Make sure to turn your sound on, and click on "small."
Control the Land, Control Your Destiny
We are articulating a wider political agenda through research on manufactured housing: Reinvestment Partners believes that manufactured housing can become a significant tool within the housing stock that is affordable to working families.Our agenda seeks to address the systemic shortcomings of the land-lease park by giving residents more control over the land where their homes are located.
This can be achieved through a variety of structures. Non-profit owned parks are oneway. Resident-owned cooperatives are another.
To get there, we need more actors to participate in manufactured housing. This includes foundations, county governments, state housing finance agencies, planners, and banks.
Media
Reinvestment Partners' work is highlighted in Bob Geary's profile of a park threatened by closure in Raleigh, North Carolina. Subsequently, a rezoning application is denied and the park is saved.
Research and Policy
Reinvestment Partners is developing policy materials to articulate the pathways to reform in this sector.
The Myths and Realities of Manufactured Housing, published by the Federal Reserve, looks at the financing market for manufactured homes.
"Transforming Trailers into Assets" published by the University of North Carolina's School of Government, outlines how non-profit ownership can create opportunities for the revitalization of distressed parks.
This is My Home: The Challenges and Opportunities of Manufactured Housing, is a resource for groups interested in understanding the issues that surround manufactured housing policy.