Innovation Profile: Quality, Affordable Manufactured Housing

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Update: July 2010

On October 29, 2009 (at the 2009 CFED Innovation Summit) Frontier was thrilled to announce a strategic alliance with Clayton Homes, the leading home manufacturer and largest homebuilder in the nation. With this signed agreement, elements are in place to create the first national network of nonprofit manufactured homebuilders, the Frontier Network™. This unprecedented public-private partnership creates a new market dynamic that makes it easier for more low-income families to achieve homeownership.

Frontier National, a new, national nonprofit organization in the process of being spun off from Frontier Housing, has moved forward to define a product strategy that includes:

• Factory built (modular and manufactured) Energy Star single-family homes marketed to low- and moderate-income homebuyers
• Replacement of old energy-inefficient mobile homes with new Energy Star homes
• Factory built multifamily housing marketed to nonprofit developers

Frontier National’s product strategy is complemented by a comprehensive policy approach that presents replacement of mobile homes with Energy Star manufactured homes as an affordable housing and energy conservation strategy. Together with a broad coalition comprised of housing development nonprofits, energy advocates and the manufactured housing industry, CFED and Frontier support the approved House Bill 5019, or HomeStar Bill, which includes a new program which would offer $7,500 rebates to facilitate the purchase of a new Energy Star qualified home. It also adds a decommissioning grant of up to $2,500 for the cost of home removal. A companion bill was introduced into the Senate by Senator Jon Tester (D, MT), SB 1350. If the Senate approves this measure, Frontier’s new venture is faced with rapidly building systems to effectively meet demand generated by this program. The new program can support 60,000 replacements over two years. Stacey, formerly President of Frontier Housing and now President of Frontier National, and an I'M HOME network member, testified on March 11, 2010 before the U.S. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee on the proposal to replace old mobile homes with energy efficient new manufactured homes as part of the Jobs bill. Click here to read her written testimony.

About the Innovation

To provide quality, affordable manufactured housing to all Americans, Stacey will work with Frontier National to distribute high-quality manufactured homes to nonprofits nationwide to serve local, low- and moderate-income families. The concept, currently being pilot-tested in a number of markets, involves training and assisting other nonprofits so their homes appreciate in value and build financial security. The new business that results from the innovation will serve as an aggregator between local nonprofits and home manufacturers to secure volume discounts and ensure product quality.

About the Innovator

Stacey Epperson is currently President of Frontier National and formerly President and CEO of Frontier Housing, a nonprofit based in Morehead, Kentucky, dedicated to expanding economic opportunity by ensuring Americans fair access to safe, efficient and sustainable manufactured and modular homes.

CFED gratefully acknowledges I’M HOME: Innovations in Manufactured Homes in helping support Stacey Epperson as an Innovator-in-Residence. Major funding for I’M HOME comes from the Ford Foundation, and I’M HOME is presented in partnership with NeighborWorks America, Fannie Mae and ROC USA.