HUD Secretary Turner says manufactured housing key to supply

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner reiterated his focus on increasing housing supply and streamlining operations at the federal agency.

"Making housing more affordable and increasing the supply of housing in our country…is a top priority of mine," Turner said at a luncheon hosted by the Exchequer Club and Women in Housing & Finance in Washington on Wednesday.

In order to achieve lower housing costs and more supply, the department must "take off anything that is burdening those things," he noted. As has been the case before, Turner highlighted the negative impact of regulations on single-family home construction and manufactured housing.

"We want to increase manufacturing housing. It's the most affordable," Turner noted. "We want to continue to build much needed affordable housing and manufacturing housing."

HUD's Secretary noted the department is currently "taking inventory" of every program, policy and process and eliminating "those that do not advance our mission at HUD to serve the American people." 

As such, he applauded HUD's Department of Government Efficiency Task Force in helping to "transform the grant process, modernize our IT systems and enhance operations." 

HUD's head added that the department retired "600 obsolete mortgagee letters dating back to 1978."

Regarding policies, Turner once more highlighted his termination of  the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule In response to some members of the audience shaking their heads, Turner pointed out that "we can't keep running in the same place and losing" and that the rule "didn't build any houses."

The AFFH rule, which required recipients of HUD funds to take proactive steps to combat segregation, promote fair housing choices, eliminate disparities and foster inclusive communities, was implemented in 2015 under President Barack Obama. Since then, it has remained in limbo, alternating between being repealed and enforced. Turner's actions alone may not be enough to formally end the rule, according to legal experts.

The HUD secretary also said there will be pending changes to the department's grant programs "to hold grantees accountable and create transparency about how funds are used once we disperse it.

"I don't care what you hear in the media. We are not compromising our mission critical functions at HUD," he added.

Turner added a jab at the previous administration, noting that the "focus on the mission was lost, but now it is returning." 

He called policies under the Biden administration "negligent" and some that "allowed the housing affordability crisis to become the status quo." Turner did not go into specifics about what exact policies exacerbated the high cost of homes.