Innovative Housing Showcase: Some Policy Thoughts

Innovative Housing Showcase: Some Policy Thoughts

By John Gibbs, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research

John Gibbs, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research.

From September 6 to 10, 2025, HUD hosted the fifth annual Innovative Housing Showcase in Washington, D.C. Every year, the event highlights the latest breakthroughs in housing technology. (See PD&R Edge for a summary of this year's event.)

We sponsor the Innovative Housing Showcase to raise awareness that America has the technology to build housing better, faster, and more cost effectively than ever before. The showcase keeps the following simple ideas in the public discourse:

1. We already build lower-cost housing that today's households can afford: manufactured housing. Manufactured housing today is a far cry from what it was in the past. The Innovative Housing Showcase featured several high-quality units that rival or exceed many site-built units today. Yet, although the cost to build manufactured housing is half that of traditional stick-built housing, manufactured housing represents just 10 percent of new single-family homes built. Increasing the production of manufactured homes could unlock homeownership for more Americans. Rather than establishing a blanket ban on manufactured homes, one option for communities is to set design standards that allow CrossMod, a type of manufactured home built off-site and then permanently installed on a foundation, blending features of both factory-built and site-built homes.

   Additionally, manufactured homes overcame a financing barrier this year. Homebuyers purchasing single-section CrossMod homes placed on a permanent foundation can now get conventional financing from the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.

2. Builders could construct stronger stick-built homes more quickly if more of them adopted factory-built floor trusses and wall panels in their designs. Although 70 percent of single-family homes built today already use factory-built roof trusses, just 10 percent of them use panelized walls or factory-built floor trusses, which those same factories can also build.

   Consumers and communities already accept this type of construction; the barrier to this superior-quality product is builder adoption. In response to builders' concerns about costs, HUD is supporting research into the costs and benefits of using additional factory-built components versus traditional site-built methods.

3. Modular housing is the next frontier in housing innovation. Currently, modular housing makes up just 4 percent of single-family homes built (primarily accessory dwelling units) and even fewer multifamily homes. Modular housing offers numerous potential advantages over traditional stick-built and manufactured housing: factory construction results in stronger, higher-quality structures; faster delivery because site work and manufacturing can be done simultaneously; more flexible designs that aren't limited by a chassis; and, if production can be scaled up, significant cost savings. Scaling up production of modular housing will require the following changes:

1. Adopting a single performance-based modular building code for all states. If states aligned their laws to adopt the same modular code on a coordinated cycle — and accepted other states' certifications of factory code compliance — builders would follow consistent rules nationwide. As of January 1, 2025, several states have taken steps in this direction. Virginia, Montana, Utah, Colorado, and Rhode Island have adopted the International Code Council/Modular Building Institute 1200 and 1205 Standards for Off-Site Construction, with Colorado and Rhode Island also adopting Standard 1210. Colorado has gone further by becoming the first state to adopt Guideline 6 on Advanced Panelization. These adoptions demonstrate momentum toward a more uniform, performance-based framework for modular construction.

2. Encouraging developer adoption. Developers of new communities need to see modular housing as a desirable product to sell. One promising model involves large housing developers owning factories that produce modular housing. Connect Housing Blocks in Columbus, Ohio, and Van Metre Homes in Virginia are housing developers pursuing this model.

4. There are easier ways to preserve the quality of our existing housing inventory of 130 million homes. Critical to ensuring adequate supply is regular maintenance and periodic renovation of our current homes. The showcase offered several examples of ways in which innovation can make renovation easier, faster, and less expensive for homeowners. Consumers with leaky pipes might consider coating the inside of the pipes with a drinking-water-safe epoxy as a faster, cheaper, and less disruptive alternative to repiping.

Lowering the cost of housing does not require government subsidy or government risk. It requires sensible federal, state, and local policies that allow innovation to flourish at scale. The Trump administration is committed to unleashing the power of American innovation.