Don’t manufacture facts about housing parks
As someone who currently lives in a resident owned manufactured home community in the Granite State, I am disappointed in the Concord Monitor’s recent coverage,which leaves readers with the impression that resident ownership is always the better option and private investment is inherently harmful. This seems misleading. The reality is more complicated.
The truth is the resident co-op that sought to purchase the Hopkinton communities projected lot rents of roughly $1,010 per month just to make the numbers work. According to reporting cited by the cooperative’s own board, those increases would have forced some residents to leave.
By contrast, existing residents under the private ownership reported seeing a modest rent increase from $645 to $680 per month.
This doesn’t mean that private ownership is perfect, nor does it mean that resident ownership is a bad model. But let’s stop manufacturing the facts.
The Monitor’s reporting has focused on fears that higher rents for new residents are destroying home values. Recent sales do not match that reporting.
Finally, private ownership is often portrayed as absentee ownership. But private investors provide capital for many infrastructure issues that can plague parks and can be unaffordable for resident owned communities.
Manufactured housing remains one of New Hampshire’s most important source of affordable housing. The debate deserves more context and fewer assumptions.