A new approach to *truly* affordable housing...

I originally posted this to my fellow young folks on the Gen Z Thread, but after typing the whole thing out I decided it would be cool to open up the conversation to the broader Permies community. If you want to know a little more about my background, you can go look there, but what I want to post here is an idea I've been developing as a 20-something growing up in a world where home/land ownership feels unattainable, and where most people are starved for community and connection...

...This brings me to my current scheme, which is *truly* affordable housing. I've just purchased an 470sq ft, 1966 Mobile Home in a little park in the town where I live. It cost 40k, plus $400 in lot rent each month. Mind you, median home prices in this town are currently 670k and climbing every year... The mobile home has two bedrooms, and I'm able to rent out the second one to cover all of my ownership costs (lot rent, insurance, utilities).  For a low price, I'm able to have warm, reliable shelter in a walkable community (5 mins to downtown, less to the nearest grocery store). Not to mention, 'open space' requirements means there's an empty grass lot right out my front door, where I'm working to start a community garden.

I'm wondering why more people aren't tapping into the aging housing stock of mobile home parks as a solution for affordable housing, skill building and living in community. I see and interact with my neighbors frequently. I have a huge project list that's going to expand my construction skillset massively (lots of natural material retrofits, starting with clay on the interior walls). And I am not bleeding out money on rent each month, which dovetails perfectly into my financial independence/early retirement plans... I understand that there's a stigma around 'trailer parks' and the people in them being 'trailer trash', but what if our generation started to see this as an opportunity to create affordable community housing and redefined what trailer park living means?

There's also a big push to convert trailer parks to "Resident Owned Communities" [ROCs] which basically entails the residents of the park getting together, applying for a loan (entities like ROC USA have funding pools specifically for this) and then purchasing the park from the current owner, after which they use the monthly lot rent payments to pay off the mortgage on the land (rather than to provide a profit to the owner, as before). After purchase, residents become responsible for park maintenance, but the land beneath them is owned by them and there's no risk of it being purchased by a developer, who hikes up their lot rent and pushes people out of their homes. There are many moving success stories about this conversion process, I'd highly recommend googling ROCs, as well as watching the documentary "A Decent Home" (available for free on Youtube).

The company I work for is beginning to do prefabricated straw structural insulated panels (similar to those made by New Frameworks in Vermont). I want to develop a design for a HUD-certified manufactured home (which just the official term for mobile homes/trailers), that's energy efficient and carbon-storing. Interior and exterior walls could be clay plastered. The whole thing can be flat packed on a truck and shipped anywhere in the country (although a network of regional hubs would be ideal) and assembled in under a week. To make the deal even sweeter, many states have funded 'mobile home replacement' programs. Here in Colorado, the department of local affairs (DOLA) administers a program offering up to 55k per-unit for mobile home replacement.

What if we developed a network of builders who could share plans, obtain funding, build the panels off site, and then work in small crews to assemble replacement housing in mobile home parks. We could learn and teach the necessary skills quickly and work with local trades people to do the technical/permitted work... We could also then have a framework for teaching natural building skills and building science that would be highly replicable, and best of all, we'd be building community and creating healthy, energy and resource efficient homes.

Apologies for the length of my ramble, but I'd love to hear thoughts from my fellow Permies who feel like homeownership is unattainable, but are yearning for community and secure housing. What am I missing? How can we come together and make this happen? Any other ideas to build off of this?

Clever concept.
If designs were standadised even better, but I notice everybody seems to want custom design even when they cannot afford it.

I am not sure what truly affordable housing costs or even looks like.

My neighbor is selling his tiny house and 80 acres of land for $549,000.

He doesn't have an aging mobile home, just a tiny shack smaller than a aging mobile home.

I believe we need to remove the cost of actual land from any project.
This can be done by using public or common land, managed by a 'housing society'.
Then create smaller homes that suit the needs of people, even perhaps built with the help of the occupants.
Rents to be managed by the Housing group with allowance for adequate maintenance which is not usually catered for.
The smaller homes can be built with materials that are energy efficient, durable and hardwearing, maybe with a little artwork on the exteriors.
The design of roads etc to be completely different from the usual method, I suggest a Dutch system where the garages and road access is from a rear court with home blocks radiating outwards in a spoke like fashion of a wheel.
The front gardens to face a footpath and an exterior circular park around the whole of the subdivision and only the single road into the rear of the housing.

My husband and I looked into these options.  Ultimately we've decided to keep renting for now.  Our landlords are pretty flexible about what we get up to, so this is working for us for now, with our small house with a wraparound yard.  We have some ROCs here in our state already and hopefully there will be more.  I think the more options there are out there for living situations the better.

Biggest barriers in my experience are zoning/permitting (especially for alternative, compact, modular, and/or high density construction), new build + development costs (where land is cheap, suitable infrastructure often isn't), and siting challenges (finding affordable, appealing, resilient land in a location/setting that people will want to stay long term).

I do think there is strong interest in existing mobile home parks among real estate investors, since it's difficult to establish new parks anywhere due to zoning pushback. But they're not working to create affordable ownership opportunities for others. The Co-op structure you mentioned is great, if existing members can pull it off though.

I think there will be more efforts to increase acceptance of small/mobile dwellings in rural areas facing housing crises, with growing appeal of tiny houses that often escape the dated mobile home stigma. But taking that to the next level of dense multi-family development (parks) is challenging. Can be done, but will take coordinated campaigning and lots of $$ to create an opening.

If you want lots more detailed insight, you might reach out to Lee Pera https://www.tinyhousezone.com who has studied and consulted along these lines for a while!

Also going to point to https://skystonevale.org which is working on a creative inclusive affordable development in southern CO.

Ben Brownell wrote:I think there will be more efforts to increase acceptance of small/mobile dwellings in rural areas facing housing crises, with growing appeal of tiny houses that often escape the dated mobile home stigma. But taking that to the next level of dense multi-family development (parks) is challenging. Can be done, but will take coordinated campaigning and lots of $$ to create an opening.

Great point. Zoning and Land Development Codes vary soo greatly from place to place, and the process of changing them usually requires multiple years and lots of funding. Its nearly impossible to zone a new mobile home park anywhere in the country because they're being de-incentivized. That said, there are some promising frontiers of modern LDCs. For example, where I live we have a "Cottage Cluster" designation within in residential and residential mixed-use areas. This "Cottage Cluster" allows for up to 36 units/acre of density, requires the orientation of front doors and porches toward a central, shared greenspace, and mandates parking on the perimeter. Really great way to encourage small footprint, pedestrian and community oriented development. It would be really cool to see this kind of policy spread through the country and open doors to a more holistic approach to development.

Couple it with co-housing principles and shared equity in the land like John mentioned above, and something really interesting begins to form!

John C Daley wrote:I believe we need to remove the cost of actual land from any project.
This can be done by using public or common land, managed by a 'housing society'.
Then create smaller homes that suit the needs of people, even perhaps built with the help of the occupants.
Rents to be managed by the Housing group with allowance for adequate maintenance which is not usually catered for.
The smaller homes can be built with materials that are energy efficient, durable and hardwearing, maybe with a little artwork on the exteriors.
The design of roads etc to be completely different from the usual method, I suggest a Dutch system where the garages and road access is from a rear court with home blocks radiating outwards in a spoke like fashion of a wheel.
The front gardens to face a footpath and an exterior circular park around the whole of the subdivision and only the single road into the rear of the housing.

Agree with all of this! Shared equity housing projects seem like the way to go. Katie McCamant and Charles Durrett have created some really great resources around co-housing as a development process, I'd highly recommend their book "Creating Cohousing" as well as taking a look at their websites.

I think the homeowner contribution is also a critical piece... One thought would be to prefab the envelope of the home, but leave all the finish work to the homeowner. This would allow for a degree of customization, even with a standardized design, as well as enhanced affordability and homeowner empowerment. When I worked in Moab, we used a sweat equity model to help lower the construction cost. I believe it was a USDA Rural Self-Help program that created lower interest rates for participants. We'd also build 4-8 homes at a time, and neighbors would spread their sweat equity hours between all the active projects. A great strategy for building community, not just houses!

The same could apply with a mobile home park replacement program: residents could help each other build/finish their houses in turn, strengthening community, enhancing efficiency and empowering residents in the process.

What are these please.

We have some ROCs here in our state already and hopefully there will be more

You are fighting the good fight, and I really like the clarity of your vision. Please keep those fires burning within you. Others should support your efforts, and I wish you every possible blessing. Your experience reminds me of a similar effort back in the mists of time.

My pal Legare, a vaunted surfer and sailor, purchased a not-so-new trailer home on the west coast.  He and his with Kate rebuilt it, while both working jobs in their community.  This was almost 2 decades back.  The ultimate rewards?  Waking up to the sound and sight of perfect waves for the taking.  And peace of mind about owning a home connected to other sports like paddle boarding and kayaking. And knowing their hard work potentially saved a home from being demolished
I could go on.
In time, my friend worked for Scripps Institute and was paid well for deep,  long scuba diving studies

John C Daley wrote:What are these please.

We have some ROCs here in our state already and hopefully there will be more

I found this:
https://rocusa.org/why-resident-ownership/

Thanks for that link Susan.
From that link "Unlike traditional manufactured home communities, ROCs are not subject to market-based rent increases,
and there is no profit margin in monthly site fees.
This cooperative ownership gives homeowners the ability to control costs,
improve facilities and make their own rules while providing the peace of mind of land ownership."
anyou get the same issues that can occur in extreme cases with HOC's?