Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the award of $225 million in competitive grant funding for 17 awardees with proposed projects across 26 states through the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) program, HUD announced in a release.
PRICE is an innovative grant program – providing funding to preserve and revitalize manufactured housing and manufactured housing communities (MHCs) across the country, including rural, suburban, urban, tribal, and disaster impacted areas.
More than 22 million Americans currently live in manufactured homes, and manufactured housing communities comprise a significant portion of the nation’s affordable housing stock, especially in rural and tribal areas. Manufactured housing is a central component of the Biden-Harris administration’s strategy to increase housing supply and lower housing costs, the release stated.
These actions reinforce the Biden-Harris administration’s ongoing commitment to furthering manufactured homes as an affordable option for Americans to obtain quality and stable housing through HUD programs, and build upon actions taken to strengthen guidance, expand financing options, and increase loan limits to support manufactured housing.
“This is an historic investment – as the first federal grant program specifically for residents of manufactured homes,” Adrianne Todman, acting secretary of HUD, said in the release. “Manufactured housing provides an affordable path to homeownership for many families. This funding builds upon HUD’s commitment to advancing housing innovation and reduce housing costs.”
The funding announced will support low- and-moderate income homeowners and residents in manufactured units and MHCs with critical investments such as repairs and rehabilitation of existing homes, accessibility upgrades, infrastructure improvements, mitigation strategies to increase resilience, resident services including eviction prevention and housing counseling, and support with transitioning existing MHCs to resident-managed communities, according to HUD.
Funding will also enable the resident-driven redevelopment of existing manufactured housing communities - including replacing aging and inadequate units with new affordable homes, expanding existing manufactured housing communities, and acquisition of properties for the creation of resident-managed communities.
Additionally, the demand for funding for manufactured housing was substantial. HUD received considerable interest in the inaugural PRICE competition. Applications were submitted from more than 175 entities proposing eligible activities benefiting communities across 43 states, representing a wide variety of demographics, geographics, and population sizes. Successful applicants demonstrated a commitment to supporting the long-term affordability and stability of manufactured housing, while deeply involving community members in their anticipated work.
“In launching the PRICE competition, we listened to residents of manufactured housing communities. We heard how challenging it can be to own your home, but rent the land the home sits on, and the critical need for repairs and infrastructure upgrades without increases to lot rents and fees,” Marion McFadden, principal deputy assistant secretary for Community Planning and Development, said. “The winning proposals invest in communities, empower residents, and prioritize long-term affordability, ensuring PRICE funding will have a transformative impact for years to come.”
Manufactured housing and MHCs face significant challenges to affordability, resilience, infrastructure, and maintenance that are often exacerbated by restrictive land use and titling policies, financial pressures from rising lot rents, and the impacts of extreme weather, natural hazards, and disaster events – such as flooding due to lack of stormwater infrastructure.
The 17 awardees of PRICE grants represent a diverse set of organizations and intended projects that will carry out work from the level of small Tribal communities to local governments to statewide, regional, and national organizations. Overall, PRICE grants will benefit communities across 26 states including rural, suburban, urban, tribal, and disaster impacted areas.
Manufactured housing comprises an estimated 17% of homes on Tribal lands. The PRICE competition dedicated a minimum of $11 million to Tribal applicants, and HUD received over 40 unique applications proposing projects in Tribal communities. Today’s announcement includes nearly $46 million for Tribal applicants, direct awards to seven Tribal applicants, and awards to regional nonprofits funding activities in Tribal communities.
“Manufactured housing is a critical tool to address the affordable housing crisis in Indian Country,” Heidi Frechette, deputy assistant secretary for Native American Programs, said. “Early on, we consulted with Tribal leaders. Their input was instrumental in ensuring that this program works in Indian Country. I am excited to see so many Tribal projects that will get funded under the PRICE program and looking forward to seeing all the amazing work that Tribes will do with these dollars.”