We wrapped up another spring open house at Stratford Homes last month. Year-over-year attendance was up, again! More conversations about what’s possible. Good energy.
While we are optimistic about what is happening at Stratford, we're equally optimistic about what is happening in Madison and Washington.
Governor Evers recently signed Wisconsin’s most significant pro-housing legislation in decades. Mandatory 60-day rezoning for residential projects aligned with community plans. Expanded WHEDA financing that covers up to a third of project costs. A workforce home loan putting up to $60K in gap financing for first-time buyers. Streamlined platting. Real tools that lower the bar to getting homes built and getting families into them.
At the federal level, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed the Senate 89-10 and the House 390-9. It includes the Modular Housing Production Act — the first time federal legislation has specifically directed HUD to address the financing barriers that have held back our industry. Conference reconciliation is still ahead, but the bipartisan support is hard to ignore.
What matters is how these layers stack. State financing tools, plus federal expansion, plus streamlined approvals, mean that projects that didn’t pencil last year start to pencil this year.
For over 50 years, we’ve been building homes in a factory and proving that off-site construction delivers faster, more consistently, and at a cost that serves working families. We didn’t wait for policy to catch up. But it’s catching up. And the people walking through our open house last month — they can feel it too.