Salem, OR – Today, Governor Tina Kotek testified before the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness in support of House Bill 4082, the Governor’s bill to produce more affordable housing for Oregonians aged 55 and older and improve access to manufactured home communities.
“Too many older Oregonians are one emergency away from losing their housing,” Governor Kotek said. “House Bill 4082 helps cities create affordable homes for seniors and supports lower-cost manufactured home communities so people can age in place with dignity and stability.”
Oregon is experiencing a housing affordability and production crisis. The impacts are being felt acutely by older and working-class Oregonians. Severe rent burden (defined as a household paying more than 50% of their income on housing costs) jumps from 12.8% for the 25-54 age range to 19.7% for the 55 to 64 age range, and only continues to increase for older age groups, reaching 35.5% for adults 85 and older. The state needs solutions that will fast track housing for residents who need the affordable options offered by age-restricted or manufactured home communities.
What House Bill 4082 does:
House Bill 4082 uses the established Senate Bill 1537 (2024) tool to provide an opportunity for cities to add sites to their urban growth boundaries for housing for 55 and older communities or manufactured home communities. Cities can bring in up to 50 or 100 acres – depending on city size – of non-resource or exception land that will support affordable age-restricted residential communities or manufactured housing developments. This creates opportunities for developers to acquire land at a price that enables the development of manufactured home parks or affordable older adult housing communities.
House Bill 4082 requires the development of complete communities, where older Oregonians or manufactured home residents can access services, shopping, and recreation, all within accessible distance.
Depending on the city population, the tool could provide from 200 to 400 manufactured homes. A single manufactured housing unit can be produced at just 35% of the cost of a site-built house. This means cities using this tool for a new manufactured home community could anticipate a similar reduction in the cost of housing and increase in affordability for city residents.
“Today’s manufactured homes are naturally affordable, energy efficient, and constructed using high-quality components designed to last,” said Jody Lyon, Executive Director of the Manufactured Housing Association. “Our factories are ready to scale up production to address Oregon’s housing challenges. We encourage the legislature to pass HB 4082 because it provides Oregon communities much-needed flexibility to let us build the housing our neighbors depend on.”
For 55 and older communities, there is a federal requirement for at least 80% occupancy by 55+ residents. In addition, House Bill 4082 requires that housing be affordable to older Oregonians at 120% area median income or below – between $68,000 and $90,000 and below in most Oregon counties (Hood River, Deschutes, Benton, and Portland metro counties are higher). All cities in the state are eligible for the site addition.
“There simply isn’t enough affordable, accessible housing for low-income older adults in Oregon,” said Stephanie J. Hooper, President & CEO of AGE+. “We support HB 4082 because it would intentionally expand the kind of housing stock older Oregonians need to age well in community.
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