MHI Congress and Expo Welcomes Back Secretary Ben Carson

The Manufactured Housing Institute sent out the following press release about Secretary Ben Carson speaking at their MHI Congress and Expo:

Secretary Ben Carson at the MHI Congress and Expo Photo: Lisa Stewart Photography

Today, at MHI’s 2019 Congress & Expo in New Orleans, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson reaffirmed his commitment to manufactured housing. Addressing over 1,400 manufactured housing professionals, Secretary Carson said, “manufactured housing is an active ingredient in the medication we are prescribing for a stronger America.” MHI’s continuous and productive outreach to HUD resulted in the Secretary’s strong remarks in favor of manufactured housing. This is the second year in a row that Secretary Carson addressed MHI’s Congress and Expo. In addition, last Wednesday, he spoke to HUD’s Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee in Washington, D.C. 

Telling attendees the nation’s housing shortage is an issue of supply and demand and that HUD’s strategy is focused on increasing supply, Secretary Carson stated: “Since the key constraint on supply is the cost of new construction and development, the solution to the problem is to change the cost side of the equation. Manufactured housing has emerged out of the limestone and stepped into the limelight, to address precisely this need.” 

While extolling the affordability of manufactured housing, Secretary Carson highlighted the benefits of land-lease manufactured home communities saying that they “combine affordability with a sense of neighborhood and lifestyle.”

Secretary Carson said, “The fact that manufactured homes can be so beautifully done – and in fact are often indistinguishable from site-built homes – is manufactured housing’s best-kept secret. Well, HUD believes that secret should be shared.” 

A top priority of MHI is expediting changes to the HUD Code. Through ongoing outreach with the Administration, HUD, and Congress, MHI has repeatedly said the regulatory climate for manufactured housing at HUD must be improved so that regulatory requirements do not increase costs or add unnecessary hurdles to the production of quality, affordable manufactured housing. Secretary Carson acknowledged MHI’s efforts, stating the Department is “currently evaluating our Office of Policy Development and Research’s recent recommendation to expedite the manufactured home code-making process within HUD, which could better help HUD Standards keep pace with new industry innovations and techniques.”

Wrapping up his remarks to attendees, Secretary Carson stated: “Manufactured housing is a vital part of HUD’s prescription to make safe, quality, desirable, affordable homes available to millions of hard-working Americans. The foundations of a better tomorrow are built with the new techniques and new technologies of today, and for manufactured housing, that time is now.”

MHI appreciates Secretary Carson’s prioritization of manufactured housing and will continue to strongly advocate that HUD support the industry’s efficient production of quality homes with features that consumers want at an affordable price. 

If you have any questions, please contact MHI's Government Affairs Department at

(703) 229-6208 or MHIgov@mfghome.org.

Preserving The Past

Trailers. Mobile Homes. Trailer Parks. All words that we cringe at when we hear them now, but they were an important part of our history and past. In a lot of communities, owners are doing everything they can to remove these labels and make everything new and fresh, but thankfully YES! Communities is taking a different approach at their Sleepy Hollow community in Ft Worth, Texas.

It turns out that their clubhouse is a historically significant estate that was designed by a very important architect, and instead of making into something it wasn't they spent the money and did the research to celebrate the unique architecture of the home while making it a space that the residents of Sleepy Hollow would enjoy and use.

What a fun project to work on, and a way to make Sleepy Hollow a unique place to live.

Marketing Community Homes

10 Years After Hurricane Katrina

It's hard to believe that's it's been 10 years since Katrina set her eye on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. So much of the media was focused on New Orleans, but the entire Gulf Coast especially in Mississippi has yet to fully recover from her wrath.
When it became obvious that here was going to be extensive loss of housing , the Manufactured Housing Institute and the manufactured housing community sprung into action to make sue that people would have a place to live that was safe.
A few years after the storm MHI's magazine: Modern Homes had an article written by Lifestylist® Suzanne Felber with photography by Lisa Stewart Photography that shared what progress had been made, and what an important part of the rebuilding process manufactured housing played.
You can read a copy of the article here.

Happy 4th of July

Have a great 4th of July!

The 23rd International Networking Roundtable For Land Lease Communities

If there is one event for land lease community owners that is not to be missed, it is the International Networking Roundtable.

We are so excited to be here with so many owners, consultants, and people who are interested in the future of the manufactured housing industry - can't wait to get started tomorrow!

Celebrating Summer in Home Decors

We absolutely love this new Lifestylist® Designed model for the Clayton Homes Retail Center in Oklahoma City, OK. This home would be perfect in a community by the beach or lakeside, and these colors just put a smile on our face.