Vermont bills aim to expand manufactured housing affordability

Congress included major manufactured housing reforms in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Section 301 would eliminate the requirement that manufactured homes be built on a permanent chassis. Advocates say the change expands design options and lowers production costs. Manufactured housing has long shown a cost advantage over site-built construction, while policy barriers have limited the sector’s potential. A November 2025 Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies study found off-site construction can provide affordable housing developers a faster, less costly alternative to conventional site-built methods. Vermont’s expanded sales tax exemption and anti-exclusion zoning protections treat manufactured housing as a legitimate, permanent part of the housing stock, reducing regulatory risk and encouraging investment, site selection, inventory, and financing product development.

"Section 301 would scrap the requirement that manufactured homes be built on a permanent chassis. Advocates say the change would unlock new design possibilities and reduce production costs at scale. Researchers and industry analysts have long documented manufactured housing's cost advantage over site-built construction. For an equally long stretch, policy barriers have suppressed the sector's potential."

"A November 2025 study by Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies found that off-site construction methods offer affordable housing developers a faster, less costly path than conventional site-built construction. The study validated what manufactured housing producers have argued for years. We just don't see starter homes anymore, Jason Webster, president of Huntington Homes, a Vermont modular manufacturer, said in testimony at a late April committee hearing on the rural financing bill."

"Vermont's sales tax exemption expansion does not guarantee a surge in buyers. It signals, however, that the state treats manufactured housing as a legitimate, permanent part of its housing stock. That posture reduces regulatory risk for manufacturers, dealers and community developers deciding where to invest. When states layer favorable tax treatment onto anti-exclusion zoning protections, they create a stable, predictable environment that can support site selections, inventory investment and financing product development."

Read at www.housingwire.com