An ever growing number of manufactured home park communities are coming under threat of closure as cities, suburbs and outlying areas expand and the underlying property becomes increasingly valuable for development. When residents of the Wonderland Estates, just east of the city of Renton, learned of the impending potential sale or development of the land underlying their community, they brought their concerns to the King County Council.

“When you are faced with a hundred senior citizens who might go homeless next year, you act quickly to find solutions,” said Councilmember Dunn. “We’re working with the Executive, who is putting a tremendous effort into finding a fix for these folks – and I’m encouraged that the city of Renton is a part of these negotiations.”

“Affordable housing is increasingly difficult to come by in King County. As we work to increase the supply of affordable housing through incentives and subsidies, we must also protect existing options so that low-income families and seniors maintain the homes they already have, and do not become homeless,” said Councilmember Phillips, Chair of the Council’s Growth Management and Natural Resources Committee.

As one of the most overlooked sources of unsubsidized affordable housing in the country, manufactured home park communities are not often appreciated as a community asset until they start disappearing. Nationwide, about 55,000 manufactured home park communities are home to roughly 10 million residents or 3.5 million families, of which 75 percent are considered low-income. New manufactured homes generally sell for about a quarter of the price of new single-family units, with median sales prices for new manufactured homes at $51,000 compared to $220,000 for new single-family units (2005 U.S. Census).

Although they are commonly referred to as “mobile” homes, this is misleading because most manufactured homes are not easily moved. In fact, most manufactured homes are not moved again once they leave the dealer's lot, due to the high expense of moving and the potential for significant structural damage during a move (especially for older manufactured homes).

King County government actively supports low income housing and has officially endorsed the Committee to End Homelessness in King County’s ten-year community plan to end homelessness, entitled “A Roof Over Every Bed in King County.”

The motion directs the Executive to examine strategies for manufactured home park conversions, including: