HUD unveils report to help multifamily housing developers overcome barriers to offsite construction

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with the National Institute of Building Sciences and MOD X, has released the Offsite Construction for Housing: Research Roadmap, a strategic report that presents the key knowledge gaps and research needs to overcome the barriers and challenges to offsite construction.

High prices for buyers and renters are forcing Americans out of their homes and making housing unattainable. This crisis is to a large extent driven by supply constraints.

Offsite construction has the potential to deliver more affordable and accessible single and multifamily housing at scale. However, offsite construction for housing in the U.S. faces several challenges to increase uptake and adoption. This stands in considerable contrast to more mature international offsite construction industries, such as those in the UK, Japan, and Sweden.

“We need an all-of-the-above approach to housing, and offsite construction represents a unique and underused opportunity to help meet the needs of America’s working families,” said AC Powell, JD, CPS, President and CEO of NIBS. “We applaud HUD for undertaking this research effort to overcome barriers and level the playing field for all construction methods to help alleviate the housing crisis.”

What’s in The Offsite Construction for Housing: Research Roadmap

The Research Roadmap was developed by a Project Technical Committee chaired by MOD X and composed of national and international stakeholders and cross-sector experts. It is intended as a roadmap for HUD to align its programs and partnerships, while simultaneously offering an industry-wide roadmap for governments, universities, and offsite companies to come together to advance offsite construction for housing.

The Research Roadmap covers six topical areas in need of coordinated research efforts, with sub-topics and specific research questions listed to help answer the knowledge gaps:

Research Topic 1: Regulatory and Policy Framework.
Research Topic 2: Standards and System Performance.
Research Topic 3: Capital, Finance, and Insurance.
Research Topic 4: Project Delivery and Contracts.
Research Topic 5: Labor and Workforce Training and Management.
Research Topic 6: Business Models and Economic Performance.

The NIBS Off-Site Construction Council
In 2013, the National Institute of Building Sciences established the Off-Site Construction Council (OSCC) to serve as a research, education, and outreach center for relevant and current information on off-site design and construction for commercial, institutional, and multifamily facilities. NIBS staff and members of the OSCC have supported federal and private off-site construction research projects, including toolkits, roadmaps, and reports for the off-site industry. NIBS and the OSCC encourage OSCC members and other off-site stakeholders to submit reports or projects of interest that can help in the furthering of the council's goals. For more information, visit the OSCC.

About NIBS
National Institute of Building Sciences brings together labor and consumer interests, government representatives, regulatory agencies, and members of the building industry to identify and resolve problems and potential issues in the built environment. NIBS is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization. It was established by Congress in 1974. For more information, visit nibs.org or follow @bldgsciences on Twitter and Facebook.

Across the country, multifamily rents have skyrocketed. Year-over-year rents are up by double digits in nine of the top 30 markets, while national YoY rent growth is up 6.3%. Emerging from the pandemic, a perfect storm of migration, enhanced government stimulus and a hot housing market, among other factors, has enabled this extremely strong growth.