HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research Responds to Recent Hurricanes

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) offers this list of relevant publications and ordinances to assist officials, builder/developers, and others involved in hurricane recovery efforts. This special 'Research & Resources for Rebuilding' package contains publications and other materials that we believe can help local officials and rebuilding teams in their efforts to develop sound, affordable housing that can be produced relatively quickly.

This information package includes:

• Research reports, publications, and information concerning use of manufactured and modular housing, rehabilitation, storm resistant building design, and disaster response.
• Examples of existing city ordinances and state laws that encourage use of manufactured or modular housing where prohibited in the past or where an outdated ordinance needs updating.

The materials are available both electronically and in printed form. To order these publications, call 1–800–245–2691, Option 1. If you indicate you are from an area damaged by a recent hurricane, you will not be charged. You can also download these publications for free by clicking on the links below.

Relevant HUD Publications

Rehabbing Flooded Houses: A Guide for Builders and Contractors (July 2008, 61 p.)
A bilingual guidebook (Spanish and English) for professional builders and contractors rehabbing flooded single-family houses that emphasizes safe practices and the most important activities in the rehab process.

Eliminating Barriers to the Use of HUD-Code Housing in Attached Construction[2003]
Provides guidance to home manufacturers, builder/developers, and traditional site builders interested in reducing building costs while integrating manufactured housing into single-family attached construction.

Smart Codes in Your Community:
A Guide to Building Rehabilitation Codes [2001]
Provides a broad overview of the general regulatory environment governing the use and reuse of existing buildings. It also provides examples of state and local efforts to reduce regulatory complexity.

Barriers to Rehabilitation of Affordable Housing: Volume 1 - Findings and Analysis, Volume 2 - Case Studies [2001]
These two publications examine some of the more significant barriers to urban rehabilitation. The authors present a series of case studies that address problems with acquiring properties, estimating costs, obtaining insurance and financing, and working with land-use and building code regulations.

Home Builders' Guide to Manufactured Housing [2000]
This guide presents information for site builders and land developers on how to incorporate HUD-Code manufactured housing into their business operations.

HUD Rehab Guide: Volumes One through Nine [1997 – 2000]
This series provides the design and construction industry with information on building technologies, materials, components, and techniques specific to the rehabilitation process. Each volume covers a distinct element of housing rehab – foundations; exterior walls; roofs; windows and doors; partitions, ceiling, floors, and stairs; kitchens and baths; electrical/electronics; HVAC/plumbing; and site work.

Related HUD Links

The Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) has a number of post-hurricane-specific rebuilding, rehabilitation, and storm-resistant construction strategies posted on the Partnership's website. Visit https://archives.huduser.gov/portal/consumer/home.html for practical guidance on design strategies, building products and systems recommendations, and helpful tips on building and rehabbing homes for energy/resource efficiency, durability, affordability, and overall performance.

Recommendations to Help You Recover From a Flood
PATH compiled the following recommendations to help the flood recovery process, based on findings from Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) field tests of flood-damage-resistant housing materials.

A Guide to Deconstruction: An Overview of Deconstruction With a Focus on Community Development Opportunities
Communities can use the selective dismantling or removal of materials from buildings to support and complement other community objectives before, or instead of, some elements of demolition. Deconstruction helps pay for itself by generating revenue and reducing landfill and disposal costs.

Hurricane Retrofit Strategies
PATH studies homes in the aftermath of hurricanes to learn how to best protect homes – and their occupants – from future storm damage. The strategies available at the following link address the common points of failure and suggest the five most significant improvements to strengthen a home and increase storm resistance.

Practices for Improving Hurricane Resistance
Several PATH recommended technologies and practices can benefit reconstruction efforts by increasing the disaster resistance of homes, and potentially reduce the time necessary to rebuild. Many of these technologies can also reduce the cost of rebuilding.

Ordinances Encouraging the Use of Manufactured and Modular Housing

Below, you'll find links to existing local ordinances and state laws that allow manufactured housing in single-family neighborhoods, and to state-enabling statutes that prohibit local governments from banning manufactured housing. Local and state authorities may consider drawing upon these examples as a means of expediting reconstruction efforts.

Jacksonville, Florida Aesthetic Ordinance for Single Family Homes
Permits both manufactured and modular housing within neighborhoods in which similar existing dwellings are located.

Spokane Municipal Code (Section 11.19.350)
Allows a single manufactured home on an individual lot in any residential zone that allows single-family dwellings, with the exception of historic districts.

Kern County, California Zoning Ordinance
Allows manufactured homes in single-family neighborhoods if aesthetic and design attributes allow them to blend in with the surrounding neighborhoods.

Aurora, Colorado Code
Allows manufactured housing in single-family zoned neighborhoods, as long as it is compatible with other homes in the neighborhood.

Chapter 41 Idaho Building Code Act (Section 67-6509A)
Requires each local governing board to permit the siting of manufactured homes in any single-family residential zone, except for those defined as historic districts. Moreover, it allows local governments to establish standards to guarantee that the manufactured housing will be compatible with homes in the surrounding neighborhood.

Arkansas Sample Affordable Housing District Regulations
This guide provides information for communities in Arkansas attempting to meet state requirements that cities permit manufactured housing in at least one residential zoning district on individually owned lots.