As part of its efforts to address the Granite State’s shortage of affordable housing, New Hampshire’s legislators are currently considering HB 685, which would increase the supply of affordable homeownership options around the state by allowing manufactured homes to be placed on single-family plots of land in all residentially zoned areas. But bias and misinformation about this type of home persists.
Manufactured homes are distinguished from “trailers” or “mobile homes” by the rigorous safety, quality, and durability standards they must adhere to. These standards, established in 1976 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, ensure that new manufactured homes of today are quality, durable, and beautiful places to call home.
In addition to these construction standards, New Hampshire has adopted building standards that require that the wheels and axels of a manufactured home be removed, and the home be affixed to a permanent foundation before a homeowner can move in. That is why we say these homes are only mobile once. They are designed with features to ensure they can be transported from the factory where they were built to the site they will use as a permanent residence.
The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund has been turning renters into homeowners for more than four decades. They are our construction, hospital, and school workers, our retirees who want to downsize, and our young families who dream of buying their first home.
But these homeowners are often told they are unwelcome just because of the way their home was built. In many New Hampshire towns, you cannot place a manufactured home in a residential area even though these homes are on par with “stick built” or site-built housing and often are today’s most affordable homeownership option.
Last year, our average mortgage loan for a manufactured home was just over $123,000. Meanwhile, the median cost of purchasing a stick-built home has consistently exceeded half a million dollars.
Support for HB 685 is support for well-built, aesthetically pleasing homes that will help ensure everyone in our state has the opportunity to achieve the American dream of homeownership. As the median cost of purchasing a home has skyrocketed, we must not allow misinformation to block affordable homeownership legislation like HB 685.
This article was originally published on June 3, 2025, in the op-ed section of the Union Leader.