The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on Feb. 6, 2026, for consideration by the House Committees on Housing and Water and Land.
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Feb. 6, 2026, 8:45 a.m.
Hawaii State Capitol
Conference Room 430 and Videoconference
To: House Committee on Housing
Rep. Luke Evslin, Chair
Rep. Tyson Miyake, Vice Chair
House Committee on Water and Land
Rep. Mark Hashem, Chair
Rep. Dee Morikawa, Vice Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF HB1719 — RELATING TO HOUSING
Aloha Chairs, Vice Chairs and other members of the Committees,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports HB1719, which would set up a statewide framework for regulating manufactured homes.
This legislation would streamline the permitting process for this housing option, which could help more Hawaii residents afford to live here.
In particular, it would allow manufactured homes throughout the state’s urban district and prohibit the counties and homeowners associations from applying more strict aesthetic and safety rules to them than site-built homes.
The bill would define manufactured housing as dwellings constructed to comply with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s standards for manufactured housing.
Manufactured homes would have to be approved as long as they comply with the HUD code, and the counties would be prohibited from requiring them to also conform to state or county codes.
The Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies recently reviewed research on HUD standards and found that “the share of manufactured homes built in the previous decade deemed inadequate (that is, exhibiting a range of structural inadequacies, such as poorly functioning systems or significant maintenance problems) fell consistently from the 1980s through the first part of the 2000s, differing little from site-built homes after the improvements in the 1990s.”[1]
Additionally, some manufactured homes can be built for 30 to 50% of the cost of site-built homes.[2] Considering Hawaii’s high land costs, minimizing construction costs would go a long way toward making homes more attainable for local residents.
The changes proposed in this bill would expand affordable housing options without sacrificing health or safety.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] Christopher Herbert, Alexander Hermann, Daniel McCue and Chadwick Reed, “A Review of Barriers to Greater Use of Manufactured Housing for Entry-Level Homeownership,” Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, January 2024, p. 13.
[2] Jon Gorey, “Home Economics: How Manufactured Housing Can Help Solve the National Housing Affordability Crisis,” Land Lines, January 2023; Daniel Janzow, “Manufactured Housing at a Crossroads,” Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Oct. 17, 2025.
