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Beyond the Chassis: State-Level Opportunities with the New Manufactured Housing Definition from the ROAD to Housing Act

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PUBLISHED ON September 15, 2026

An amendment in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (ROAD) that recently became federal law could have a potentially large impact on housing supply: removing the permanent chassis requirement for manufactured homes.

Manufactured housing (MH) represents about 10 percent of all new homes built in the United States, and it houses more than 22 million Americans. To date, these homes have been required to have a permanent steel chassis—the necessary components to tow the units, even after they have been placed on a permanent foundation. ROAD has removed that requirement.

A new brief explores what this shift could mean for manufactured housing, as well as the law’s requirements to both update the federal code and states’ laws and statutes to align with the change. 

Key findings:

  • Removing the chassis will help make the most affordable housing supply in the United States even more versatile. MH units already cost 27-65 percent less than site-built equivalents and will likely maintain this cost competitiveness with a permanent foundation. Ultimately, potential cost savings will be dictated by the technical implementation recommendations. Both the potential cost savings and more design flexibility without the chassis will expand the use cases for MH.
  • More missing middle housing can be built. ROAD removes the permanent chassis requirement for any MH unit, whether on the ground floor or an upper story of a multistory project. This means that MH units can more easily be stacked and provides flexibility to use the foundation type best suited to local conditions.
  • MH is less distinguishable from “real” property. To date, MH has been treated not as real property but as personal property, which is not eligible for a traditional mortgage. Removing the steel chassis reduces a key distinction between MH and real property, creating opportunities for improved financing options.

The brief outlines ways that states can effectively align their definitions of manufactured housing with federal law, and some steps to help create the ecosystem necessary to translate legislative reform into a scalable framework for manufactured housing nationwide.

Read the brief

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