Removing the Permanent Chassis Requirement for Manufactured Homes 

In 1974, Congress passed the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act (HUD code), which requires manufactured homes to be built on a permanent steel chassis. A chassis is a 10-to 12-inch-deep metal frame under manufactured and mobile homes that enables easy transportation with a tow truck; however, it raises homes off the ground and creates difficulty adding a second story or basement. The requirement reflected past building norms and the fact that owners moved them frequently. Now, fewer than 5–7 percent of all manufactured homes are ever moved after initial placement. 

While the US Housing and Urban Development oversees the HUD Code and governs manufactured housing requirements, only an act of Congress can change the chassis requirement because of its Congressional origins. In late February 2026, the US Senate and House of Representatives approved legislation that would remove the requirement for manufactured homes to be built on a permanent steel chassis.  

What does chassis removal mean? 

Chassis removal is the process of removing the steel chassis from a manufactured home after the home is transported to its permanent site. With a chassis requirement change, owners could keep their chassis attached to the home, as with current policy mandates, or have it removed before home placement. Regardless, chassis would continue to transport manufactured houses to their placement location, and, if removed, the home manufacturers would likely reuse the chassis. The recycling and reusing of chassis, an expensive component of a manufactured home, would decrease material costs, allowing lower home prices. 

Chassis removal will not affect the stability of the manufactured homes, as stability rests on the foundation rather than on the chassis. Manufactured homes without chassis can continue to be placed on nonpermanent or permanent foundations, like site-built and modular homes. The placement requirements for installation would remain the same: Manufactured home foundations will continue to follow state and local building codes. However, if homeowners would like to get federally backed mortgages (like FHA, VA, and USDA), they would also have to continue to follow HUD’s Permanent Foundations Guide. 

How will chassis removal affect housing supply? 

While no studies have predicted how the proposed lifting of the requirement would change housing supply, chassis removal is expected to raise supply by lowering costs, increasing consumer demand, and expanding the overall availability of manufactured homes. According to the Niskanen Center, removing the chassis requirement could decrease manufactured home costs by $5,000–$10,000, up to 9 percent of the total average prices. With that reduced price point, the legal change could put homebuying within the reach of more people. 

In addition, changes to chassis requirements could prompt states and localities to reconsider zoning and land use restrictions that determine where manufactured homes can be placed. Currently, concerns about cohesive community design encourage bans on the homes. Chassis removal would allow the homes to be situated like site-built homes, allowing a more seamless integration into existing communities. This could lessen concerns about design and foster reform of land use ordinances. Such regulatory changes would expand supply by allowing manufactured homes in more areas. Further, the change would increase the types of manufactured homes constructed.  

Ultimately, the chassis debate is about whether federal rules written for a different era still make sense for today’s manufactured housing market, where roughly 95 percent of homes are never moved after their initial installation and become long-term residences. Removing the permanent chassis requirement would not change construction standards—homes would still have to meet the HUD Code, which calls for safe, installment compliant foundations; however, removing the requirement could expand what manufactured homes can be, where they can go, and who can afford them. If the projected cost savings materialize and the market responds with more design flexibility and broader acceptance by local jurisdictions, chassis policy reform could become a practical way to increase supply and widen access to stable homeownership, all while keeping the core promise of manufactured housing intact: delivering quality homes at lower costs. 

Arica Young is the director of housing access and affordability at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and Bennie Chang is an intern at the Lincoln Institute and a student at Georgetown University.