It's not what you think

As it turns out, there is something wrong with trailer parks, but it's not what you might think….

Given that the U.S. Census Bureau puts the average purchase price of a single family home in 2015 at a little over $326,000 and the average price of a manufactured, or mobile home, at $66,800, there's no doubt that manufactured housing is worthy of a second look.   On the surface it seems like mobile homes are the solution to the affordable housing crisis that’s right underneath our noses.  Unfortunately, there are some serious issues with manufactured housing even though cost isn't one of them.  In her 2014 Atlantic Monthly article, "The Case for Trailer Parks," Alana Semuels brings up some of the benefits and also some of the less obvious drawbacks to manufactured housing.  The stigma of mobile homes as “shoddily built cheap eyesores” is becoming increasingly out of date as HUD has established building codes regulating design and construction of mobile homes and as the industry looks to improve the quality of their products offering amenities such as “Energy Star” certified units.  This touches on the environmental advantages to manufactured housing over conventionally built homes.  Not only do they require less energy to heat and cool but they also produce much less waste in the building process.  The disadvantages of mobile homes, on the other hand, aren’t as apparent. 

First and foremost, is that good percentage of mobile home owners don’t own the land under their homes.  This leaves these mobile home owners vulnerable to increases in rent and often without a place to go if the land under their home is sold.  This short OZY News documentary "Trailer Park Nation: The Great Eviction," offers a compelling insight into the plight of mobile home owners forced to relocate:

As Semuels brings up, organizations such as the Affordable Housing Alliance have purchased trailer parks with the aim of ensuring long-term stability and affordability for residents.  Other obstacles preventing mobile homes from gaining a wider acceptance has to do with how the loan process works for manufactured housing.  Contrary to standard houses, the vast majority of mobile homes have higher interest rate loans.  According to Semuels “Buyers don’t have much choice among various financial products because manufactured homes are legally classified as personal property, like a car, rather than a house, which means that loans are more expensive and riskier.”  These issues are beginning to be addressed by government and industry stakeholders who recognize that current laws governing mobile home loans unfairly penalize their owners.

Many of the benefits of mobile homes are also shared by tiny houses.  According to Anne Wyatt in her article “Tiny Houses: Niche or Noteworthy?,” tiny houses “offer a wealth of potential benefits and solutions to a range of housing challenges; they are more economical and sustainable than conventional housing and add to the range of housing choices available” (39).  Inarguably, cost is one of the biggest factors driving tiny house appeal.  The price of many tiny homes hovers around $20,000 to $30,000, offering a roof over your head for a price that’s even less than the average manufactured home.  With a focus on quality over quantity and the “Walden-esque” ethos of a simple life, tiny homes have circumvented much of the stigma that continues to dog mobile homes.  There are many roadblocks, however, preventing tiny homes from popping up on every street corner and in every backyard.  Most problematic is the fact that many municipalities have minimum size and permanent foundation requirements for homes that essentially make many tiny houses illegal.  The issue of accessibility to infrastructure and utilities is also a dilemma facing many tiny house owners who often turn to “off grid” solutions like solar power and composting toilets since they can’t simply plug into existing utilities like water, sewer and electric.  Wyatt argues tiny houses “offer the opportunity for planners to look at some of the planning assumptions and status quo factors that make tiny houses challenging to locate and live in” (42).  Like some of the problems that plague mobile homes, this may be starting to change.  More and more towns are revising their municipal codes to make room for tiny houses.  A few towns have even gone so far as to make themselves “tiny house friendly” in the hopes of attracting residents and revenue.  How can we get more towns to follow suit?

At this point, having read about the problems and potential of mobile homes and tiny houses, I see their long term benefits as outweighing their short term downfalls.  It seems to me that mobile homes and tiny houses could be the answer for many people who aren’t able to afford conventional housing.  What’s more, mobile homes and tiny houses signal an important and necessary environmental shift towards more sustainable living.  While real, the problems associated with mobile homes and tiny houses seem to be solvable, requiring a change in attitudes and laws more than anything else.


Source:

Wyatt, Anne. "Tiny Houses: Niche Or Noteworthy?." Planning 82.2 (2016): 39-42.  

     Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.