Affordable housing solutions include not just looking at the number of homes available and how to build more, but how to make sure that existing homes are secure, and stay affordable, livable, and accessible.
Manufactured Home Communities (MHCs) provide one of the largest sources of unsubsidized affordable housing in the United States. They are home to millions of families, retirees, veterans, and people on fixed incomes — offering stability, dignity, and an affordable path to homeownership.
Why Manufactured Home Communities Matter
- Affordable Home ownership: MHCs make home ownership possible for many who cannot afford a site-built home.
- Serving Vulnerable Populations: MHCs provide housing for seniors, veterans, and working families. Nearly 30% of residents are retirees and many are people with disabilities.
- Community and Stability: MHCs foster strong neighborhoods where residents form deep roots, participate in local schools and activities, contribute to their communities, and build support networks.
How Manufactured Home Communities are at Risk
- Land Ownership Disparity: Residents own their home but lease the land it sits on, leaving them vulnerable to rent hikes, community sales, and eviction. Typical land-leases run for 25-99 years; however, MHC leases are often month-to-month and provide little security to the homeowner.
- Land Ownership Disparity: Residents own their home but lease the land it sits on, leaving them vulnerable to rent hikes, community sales, and eviction. Typical land-leases run for 25-99 years; however, MHC leases are often month-to-month and provide little security to the homeowner.
- Predatory Investor Purchases: Increasingly, multi-state investors, including private equity, look to MHCs as “cash cows” treating them as passive income investments, raising rents sharply, neglecting infrastructure and maintenance, and prioritizing profits over affordable housing and residents.
- Community Closures and Redevelopment: Entire communities can be sold or converted for other uses, displacing residents with little or no say, warning, or compensation. Closures exacerbate the state’s housing crisis. Displacement of vulnerable population results in increased homelessness.
Solutions
Preserving Housing Supply: Protecting and strengthening this important affordable housing option safeguards the homes and investments of vulnerable people, reduces predatory opportunities, and enhances the lives and future of tens of thousands of New Mexicans.
LEMHOA believes protecting manufactured home communities is key to solving the affordable housing crisis. With the right policies, MHCs can remain a pathway to secure, affordable, and dignified housing for now and future generations.