Affordable Homes Act seeks to shift manufactured-housing standards to HUD; supporters say it improves affordability
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Summary
Rep. Houchin and supporters said HR 5184 would restore HUD's sole authority over manufactured-home standards, removing duplicative DOE rules that they say increase upfront costs; Democrats warned repealing DOE standards could eliminate lifecycle energy savings for residents.
Representative Houchin presented HR 5184, the Affordable Homes Act, as legislation to streamline jurisdiction over manufactured-housing standards. Houchin said the bill "restores HUD's longstanding role as the sole regulator for manufactured housing standards, removing the Department of Energy's duplicative authority and nullifying a 2022 Biden administration rule that increased the cost of manufactured housing." She said the bill preserves DOE's technical advisory role while preventing DOE-set standards from imposing what she described as "unworkable mandates and barriers to home ownership."
Supporters — including Rep. Russell Fry and other Republicans on the panel — argued the bill reduces upfront costs that can prevent families from purchasing homes and that overlapping agency standards have created uncertainty for manufacturers. "Let's get people in homes," Houchin said, framing the measure as a way to expand homeownership opportunities.
Democrats including Ranking Member Pallone and others pushed back that DOE's standards were adopted because HUD historically had not set energy standards and that DOE's rule is intended to lower lifetime utility costs. Pallone told the committee the DOE standard is projected to save residents roughly $475 a year on average and warned that shifting authority away from DOE could reverse those savings. Members also raised tariffs and material costs as drivers of recent price increases for manufactured homes, complicating claims that DOE standards alone caused cost growth.
The committee did not record a final vote on HR 5184 in this hearing. Members discussed the bill's intent and trade-offs among upfront affordability, lifecycle energy costs and which agency has technical expertise. Houchin said the bill includes a Democratic amendment to preserve DOE's advisory role and stressed the aim of clarifying agency responsibility.
The committee accepted witnesses' full statements for the record and recessed subject to the chair's call; further floor or committee scheduling was not recorded in the transcript.
