As a housing crisis continues to rage throughout the U.S., a recent report notes that more residents are willing to live in nontraditional quarters – and often, far smaller spaces – to make ends meet.
Specifically, they’re looking into manufactured housing, according to a study released earlier in October by Construction Coverage, a California-based firm that analyzes industry trends in finance and software.
The concept, which includes units such as tiny homes and mobile homes, could serve as a tool in Rhode Island’s oversaturated housing market, local advocates say, with the Ocean State in recent years gaining notoriety for having the lowest production rate of new housing in the U.S.
“Using different techniques to build and create more housing is a good thing, in my general opinion,” said Brenda Clement, executive director of HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University.
“Like everything, you have to look at all options,” she said. “Many of the [manufactured] products are really very good.”
But so far, the concept hasn’t gone far in the Ocean State. In the Construction Coverage report, Rhode Island placed No. 42 out of 50 in states investing in manufactured housing, which Construction Coverage defines as “housing units that are prefabricated in a factory and then transported to their ultimate destinations.”
While Rhode Island ranks low among states investing in manufactured housing, the concept is on the radar for housing advocates and organizations.
In March, HousingWorks RI issued a report on mobile homes as a possible aid in combating the housing crisis. HousingWorksRI is now compiling a report with a broader focus on manufactured homes, Clement says.
But the mobile homes report found that the housing crisis has sparked a resurgence of interest in manufactured homes as a whole, among both potential residents and developers.
And while it remained low in the nationwide ranks, the Construction Coverage report shows that Rhode Island increased its manufactured housing imports from data gathered a year earlier, which placed Rhode Island No. 47 out of 50. In that time, the report states, Rhode Island’s overall stock of manufactured housing compared with all new, single-family homes increased from 2.1% to 3.5%.
Manufactured housing shipments have been on the rise nationwide, according to Construction Coverage, peaking at 123,000 shipments per year in March 2022 – more than double 2012 rates. But with inflation and mortgage interest-rate fluctuations, this figure cooled to 104,000 shipments as of July.
Southern and Appalachian states generally made the highest investments, with Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama and West Virginia taking the top five spots in descending order. But in ninth place, Maine made an appearance in the top 10, and Vermont and New Hampshire also landed in the upper half of the rankings, in 15th and 17th, respectively.
But Rhode Island’s direct neighbors in southern New England also placed lower in the rankings, with Connecticut in 28th and Massachusetts in 41st, just one spot above the Ocean State.
In addition to geographic trends, the report also notes that popular locations for manufactured homes tend to be lower-income states, “whose residents may be drawn to manufactured homes as an affordable option.”
In Rhode Island, “it’s also just not traditionally been used here,” Clement said, “so it’s still kind of new. Resistance is too strong, [and] we’re used to doing it one way.”
In 2023, the value of manufactured homes averaged $124,300, according to the Construction Coverage report, while Zillow data places the nationwide, median home value around $362,000.
Still, HousingWorks RI cautions in its own report, “the assumption that mobile homes are inherently an affordable housing option not subjected to the same skyrocketing costs associated with other types of housing is not always true,” noting that land ownership or rental rates can render this option out of reach even if the unit itself is less costly than a traditional home.
The state currently has an estimated 3,726 mobile homes registered in 46 mobile home parks, according to the HousingWorks RI report.
Manufactured homes have also stirred some interest in discussions around Rhode Island’s workforce housing. Karl Wadensten, CEO and president of industrial vibrator manufacturer VIBCO Inc. and a board member at R.I. Commerce Corp., has long pursued on-site tiny homes for VIBCO employees, with rent payments flowing back into employees’ retirement funds.
But zoning requirements and other legal red-tape restrictions have created a complicated, often confusing landscape for making the concept into a reality, Wadensten says.
“We have old rules and regulations for a time that’s way in the past,” Wadensten said. “Those kinds of rules, those kinds of zones worked well 20 years ago, but it’s a whole different ballgame now. ... If you don’t keep up and adapt, you die.”
While Wadensten notes that Rhode Island isn’t alone in its flaws, he says the state has a long way to go.
“A lot of manufacturers have excess lands and I’m sure would love doing it,” Wadensten said, adding that he hopes to see this process made easier by recently signed legislation intended to facilitate accessory dwelling units, also known as in-law apartments or “granny flats.”
This law allows homeowners to establish ADUs on their properties, and it prohibits the use of these units as short-term rentals.
The Construction Coverage study drew its data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufactured Housing Survey and Building Permits Survey, and Zillow’s Home Value Index. The firm then calculated rankings based on the percentage of total manufactured home shipments compared to all new, single-family home units in 2023.
