U.S. House Financial Services Committee holds hearing on housing innovation to expand consumer choice and housing supply

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee’s Housing and Insurance Subcommittee held a hearing on “Expanding Choice and Increasing Supply: Housing Innovation in America” to examine how innovative housing solutions could increase housing supply and expand consumer choice, with a focus on improving affordability for households between subsidy-eligible and market-rate segments. In opening remarks, Subcommittee Chair Mike Flood highlighted “workforce housing” shortages and cited National Association of Home Builders data showing a median 2024 construction cost of USD 428,215 for a new single-family home. The hearing scoped potential contributions from manufactured housing, modular homes, and 3-D printed construction, and flagged barriers including federal requirements affecting manufactured homes, state and local zoning and land-use policies, mortgage financing challenges, and limited public understanding of these housing types. Flood referenced two legislative proposals: Rep. John Rose’s Expansion of Attainable Homeownership Through Manufactured Housing Act to remove the requirement that manufactured homes be built on a permanent chassis, and a draft bill to give the Department of Housing and Urban Development authority to reject or approve manufacturing standards proposed by other regulators affecting manufactured homes.