Past, Present, and Future of Housing in the U.S.

An interactive Case Study on the history and future of U.S. housing.

 

The History of U.S. Housing Development

At one time homes lacked many safety features that are standard in current buildings. The Tenement Act of 1901 was enacted in New York City to ban the construction of rooms without ventilation systems, require indoor plumbing for toilets and mandate better ventilation and lighting.

May of 1945 marked the end of World War II and sent 4 million service men and women home to the U.S. causing soaring marriage rates and a huge baby boom. While these newly formed families looked to settle down it resulted in an incredible demand for housing.

Levittown, USA

Levitt & Sons (founder Abraham and his two sons, William and Alfred) are credited with building the first mass-produced suburb in America. William served in the Naval Construction Battalion, the military sector responsible for building much of the temporary and permanent infrastructure at U.S. military locations around the world. During his time of service he gained expertise in the mass-production of military housing and believed the same technique could be utilized in the postwar housing boom.

In 1947 Levitt & Sons began building their first development in the Long Island area of New York. Focused on speed, efficiency, and cost-effective construction, they adopted assembly-line production techniques and built as much of the house “offsite” in carpentry and other shops. These methods led to a production rate of 30 houses per day by July 1948.

Eventually, the seven suburban developments built by Levitt & Sons on Long Island (known as Levittown) included 17,000 single family, detached homes - the largest housing community built by a single development company, to date.

Through government loan programs (VA and FHA), new homeowners were able to buy a Levittown home with little or no down payment and with mortgages often cheaper than renting an apartment in the city.

 

About FHA and VA Loans

  • FHA loans are government-backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and generally have more flexible qualification criteria than conventional loans.

  • VA loans are also guaranteed by the federal government through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and cater to active-duty military, veterans and surviving spouses.

 

In 1965 Congress established the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as the federal agency to address the country's housing needs, improve the nation's communities, and enforce fair housing laws. Section 8 housing programs were developed under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to provide rental subsidies for eligible tenants.

  • Homelessness first became a national issue in the 1870s. Facilitated by the construction of the national railroad system, urbanization, industrialization, and mobility led to the emergence of people “riding the rails” in search of jobs.

    Homelessness became a national epidemic in the 1980s, resulting in emergency shelters that were meant to be temporary havens.

    During the 2000’s, the number of homeless people continued to increase. The U.S. continues to experience an affordable housing crisis. This is due to the high cost of housing, lack of affordable housing stock, and wages that have not kept up with the cost of housing.

    The topic of homelessness is a much larger issue than just a lack of shelter. Substance abuse and mental health issues are also a large contributors to the current state of homelessness in America.

Current State of American Housing

As of 2022, the U.S. is short more than 3 million homes. Supply chain problems and labor shortages are adding to a challenge that began during the housing bubble collapse of 2008 known as The Great Recession.

  • *Predatory Lending practices and insufficient regulation of home loans (especially **subprime mortgages) were the main cause of the 2008 recession.

    Adding to the stress of the crash, many homebuilders went out of business during the Recession forcing trades people to find new careers (and many did not return to construction). During the decade that followed the crash, the Millennial Generation (the largest population in history) also began searching for homes.

    In both 2009 and 2010 over 3 million homes were foreclosed on. Many of these foreclosures were a result of homeowners not being able to pay their subprime mortgages resulting in banks having to take back possession of properties/homes.

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    *Predatory Lending is the fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair tactics some lenders and mortgage brokers use to get homeowners into mortgage loans they can't afford.

    **Subprime mortgages, such as Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs), are riskier loans given to borrowers with low credit ratings that start with a low interest rate and then increases after a specific period of time. Just before the market crashed in 2007, ARMs accounted for 36% of all mortgages (currently they represent only 8%).

More efficient, modern, efficient methods of construction are necessary to help alleviate the housing shortage and create more affordable (attainable) housing in the U.S. Offsite construction methods used in Levittown communities (as well as in other countries) offers the speed and efficiency necessary to help solve housing challenges.

Offsite Construction

Offsite construction is a construction method that adds value through the manufacturing and pre-assembly of components, elements or modules in a factory setting. With offsite methods the process is the same every time, resulting in greater efficiencies and predictability. Building inside a factory also eliminates weather delays and allows the manufacturing of buildings to continue during the coldest winters or the hottest summers. Waste reduction is also a huge benefit of offsite methods as materials are not laying out in the elements and repeatability allows for constant improvement, including more precise measurements and use of materials.

Modern Methods of Construction

Time Lapse: The largest wood-based volumetric construction project in the U.S. (Philadelphia, 2022; Courtesy VBC)

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) can be defined as processes that focus on offsite construction techniques, such as mass production and factory assembly, as alternatives to traditional onsite building. 

MMC aims to optimize the construction process to obtain better products in less time by maximizing the efficiency of material and human resources.

Historically, MMC was created to meet the urgent demand for residential buildings after World War II with the method regaining popularity during the housing crisis that began in the early 2000’s.

MMC can be used to create whole homes or buildings using factory-built modules or can also be used to speed up particular areas of the building process (ie. walls, roofing, etc.), through innovative components or techniques.

  • Constructing modular buildings is all about creating parts of the building off-site and then bringing them on-site and bringing all the pre-built pieces together. Building 3D modules off-site creates time and money savings, as well as a higher level of quality control. Modular buildings might begin with basic steel shells or they could be complete external and internal designs. They can be excellent for consistency for the development of modular homes, in addition to hotels and similar buildings. The use of wood, steel, or concrete is usually determined by both preference and number of stories the building will contain.

  • Flat slab construction involves the use of flat slabs of concrete that are reinforced and supported with concrete columns. This method of construction removes the need for beams, with the load of a slab placed on supporting columns and a square slab called a drop panel. This MMC method offers flexibility in design layout, as well as reducing the amount of time required for construction. Floor-to-floor height can be reduced too, which can be beneficial to cut cladding costs and for prefabricated construction.

  • Twin wall technology is one of the modern methods of construction that combines precast concrete and in-situ concrete. Using both of these methods, it's possible to benefit from both speed and structural integrity. The walls are created by separating two wall slabs with a cast in lattice girders. After joining together and reinforcing the walls, the gap between them is filled with concrete. As well as being a faster method of construction, it's more economical and is often used together with precast floors.

  • Hybrid construction or semi-volumetric construction combines modern construction methods of volumetric/modular units and panel systems. Areas that are highly utilized such as kitchens and bathrooms can be created as volumetric units, while the rest of the building is constructed using panels. This allows for the best parts of each construction method to provide benefits, including fittings in the volumetric units and flexibility from the panel system.

  • 3D printing is continually being used in new and innovative ways, including in the construction industry. 3D printed construction is particularly useful for creating prototypes, as well as for creating complex components that have more challenging shapes. 3D printing uses the sequential layering of materials to build up the element being constructed. It begins with a digital 3D model, which can then be used to create the required construction elements.

The Future of Affordable Housing

While many government-funded programs have been implemented to help solve affordable housing challenges, the real solutions will be found by becoming more efficient in how we build. Offsite methods provide the opportunity to build faster, with more efficiency and a high level of repeatability that allows us to reach greater economies of scale.

More hotels are using offsite methods to build as well, as well as multifamily housing in both the U.S. and in other countries.

The implementation of technology into offsite processes can also help create a safer environment for humans to work. Machines and robotics can be used to do the heavy lifting traditionally done by humans that may normally have caused injuries.

 

Economies of Scale

A proportionate saving in costs gained by an increased level of production.

 

  • Choose one of the following topics and write a two-page essay discussing the challenge and solution. Conduct additional research (site your sources) and add your own ideas and solutions.

    1. Discuss how the cost of a home changed over the past 75 years in the U.S.

    2. Discuss the role of U.S. housing standards and codes and how it has affected the way homes are now built.

    3. Discuss the home shortage in the U.S. including potential solutions (methods currently being used, technology and innovation that could be used).

    4. Identify and explain some of the causes of our current housing shortage in the U.S.

    5. Explain how modern methods of construction are assisting in alleviating the current U.S housing shortage.