What is a Manufactured Home?

The following definitions of Manufactured Home, Mobile Home, Trailer, and Modular Home, terms which are often confused, appeared in the publication, Moving Home: Manufactured Housing in Rural America, written by Lance George and Milana Barr, published by the Housing Assistance Council (Washington, DC, 2005) under grants from Freddie Mac and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The definitions are reproduced here with the permission of Lance George.

Manufactured Home. A manufactured home is a factory-built housing unit designed to meet the federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, also known as the HUD Code. A manufactured home has a chassis that supports the structural integrity of the unit and is designed to be transported to a building site. Factory-built units that meet the HUD Code and were constructed after the code took affect on June 15, 1976 are classified as manufactured homes.

Mobile Home. Factory-built units constructed on a chassis and completed before June 15, 1976 are generally classified as mobile homes.

Trailer. Trailers are technically recreational vehicles that do not conform to local building or HUD Code standards. Although considered antiquated and often derogatory, the term trailer is still colloquially used when referring to manufactured or mobile homes.

Modular Home. Modular homes are factory-built to meet the state, local, or regional codes where the homes will be located (Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation 2004). Under this process, modules are assembled in three dimensions at a factory. The modules are then towed to the building site and put together in a variety of ways to construct the unit.

What is a Manufactured Home Community?

Manufactured Home Community. A manufactured home community – or “mobile home park” – is generally defined by state jurisdiction as a single parcel of land on which sit two or more manufactured homes. In most instances, manufactured home communities are owned by investor landlords and the homes are owned by their occupants. The rental relationship between community owner and homeowners is generally a matter of state law or local ordinance and generally is not incorporated in an actual lease.

Resident Owned Community. Resident-ownership refers to community ownership by the homeowners. In most instances, homeowners form a corporation (or, a “cooperative”) to acquire the community as a whole and operate it for the benefit of the homeowners. Support for this model of ownership exists because it also helps the broader community preserve an affordable community. Homeowners can also achieve resident-ownership through sub-division, although local zoning regulations generally have posed a significant barrier to sub-dividing existing communities.

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