A sign outside Crescent Village in Sandy, Utah advertises affordable housing, but residents who own their manufactured homes there say the land beneath those homes is getting harder to afford every year. One homeowner, identified only as Sunny, expects her lot rent to climb to $1,354 a month starting in January 2027, according to KUTV, part of a wave of increases hitting residents across the community.
Sunny moved to Crescent Village in August 2024, when her lot rent was about $1,100 a month, according to KUTV. She wanted to downsize from a larger rental home in Sandy. With her mortgage and expected lot rent combined, she anticipates paying roughly $2,600 a month for her three-bedroom, two-bathroom home, compared with about $2,300 a month for the six-bedroom single-family home she previously rented.
The smaller home has not delivered the lower overall costs Sunny expected. KUTV reported that she anticipated lower utility bills, but the smaller home is expected to cost roughly $350 more per month than her previous rental. She told the station that the money could instead go toward medication, medical care, gas or food, and said she no longer considers any home in the community truly affordable.
Leaving Can Be Difficult for Homeowners
The rent pressure extends beyond Sunny. Another Crescent Village resident told KUTV she pays about $1,200 a month in lot rent and expects an increase of roughly $79 in January 2027. She said that after the increase, more than half her income would go toward the land lease; she has considered taking a weekend job and said she would need to borrow money if the lease became unaffordable…