February 22, 2026
Prefab dreams, NIMBY screams
Factory-built housing hasn't taken off in California
Californians say prefab homes aren’t the problem — politicians and NIMBYs are
TLDR: California wants to use factory-built homes to fix its housing crisis, but commenters say the real problem is expensive land, red tape, and politics protecting homeowners. People with firsthand modular experience report both smooth installs and total disasters, fueling a louder debate about whether California can change its own rules.
California wants 2026 to be the “Year of the Housing Factory,” but in the comments, people are basically screaming: it’s not the homes, it’s the humans. As lawmakers hype factory-built houses as a silver bullet for the housing crisis, one commenter blasts the whole idea as a distraction, saying it doesn’t cost $2 million to buy a house because workers are “paid $1,000 an hour” — it’s because land is insanely expensive and politicians protect their friends’ property values.
Others jump in with real-life war stories. One homeowner proudly reports their sleek factory-made house was craned into place in four hours and actually worked — the nightmare was convincing the local city it wasn’t some sketchy trailer. Another describes a modular project that turned into a full-on soap opera: clueless contractors, ignored stop-work orders, and a development that collapsed harder than a badly built deck.
Then the real flame war: people accuse California leaders of talking about “equity” while acting like the most anti-housing crowd in the country, burying new projects in studies and red tape. Meanwhile, a guy chilling in his double-wide on seven acres in the Sierra Foothills casually flexes his cheap, peaceful life. The vibe from the comments: prefab is fine. It’s California that’s broken.
Key Points
- •Factory-built and prefabricated housing have been attempted for centuries, including early examples in the 1620s and various 19th- and 20th-century efforts, but have repeatedly failed to transform the U.S. housing market.
- •In 1971, HUD Secretary George Romney predicted that two-thirds of U.S. housing construction would be industrialized within a decade, supported by Operation Breakthrough, a federal initiative funding multiple housing factories.
- •Operation Breakthrough and similar efforts ran out of money and faced delays and unpopularity, causing the vision of industrialized homebuilding to falter again.
- •California lawmakers now aim to make 2026 “the Year of the Housing Factory,” viewing factory-built housing as a potential tool to address the state’s housing shortage with state support.
- •Assemblymember Buffy Wicks is leading hearings on housing construction innovation, feeding into a UC Berkeley Terner Center white paper and a forthcoming bill package, building on prior permitting reforms signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.