AUSTIN, Texas (KLTV) – A new state law will prohibit Texas cities from outright banning manufactured homes and mobile home parks within city limits, with the measure set to take effect Sept. 1.
The law was passed during the last legislative session as part of a broader housing package.
According to the Texas Manufactured Housing Association, roughly 40% of Texas cities — more than 1,200 municipalities — currently have zoning codes that effectively ban mobile home parks or manufactured homes.
Under the new law, cities retain zoning authority over where manufactured homes may be placed, as well as size and aesthetic requirements, but they can no longer issue an outright ban.
Cities with a comprehensive zoning map must designate at least one area where manufactured homes are permitted.
Texas Manufactured Housing Association Executive Director DJ Pendleton said the bill was designed to be incremental and non-disruptive.
“It’s really pretty simple — cities you just can’t ban MH,” he said. “Local control, you still have lots of local control. You get to pick where and even how big or how small, but you just can’t say nowhere.”
He said approximately 60% or more of Texas cities already comply with the new law and will not need to make changes to their existing zoning codes.
The bill passed the Texas Senate 30 to 2. In the Texas House, the vote was closer, with 82 votes out of members present.
The law includes exceptions for areas governed by deed restrictions, such as private subdivisions and master-planned communities, as well as designated historic districts.
Association officials said a primary concern raised during the legislative process was that the bill would force single-family neighborhoods to accept manufactured homes overnight. They said that is not the case.
“We don’t want that. They don’t want that,” Pendleton said. “We got to find places where this is appropriate and fits.”
Association officials said the industry’s focus is on individual homebuyers placing manufactured homes on private land rather than the expansion of mobile home parks. They cited a growing price gap between new site-built starter homes — which they said can begin at $300,000 to $500,000 in many Texas markets — and manufactured homes, which can range from approximately $120,000 to $300,000.
The executive director said the industry has evolved significantly in recent years and is working to change public perception of manufactured housing. One member company, Skyline Champion Homes, plans to display a manufactured home inside the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio during the Texas Municipal League’s annual conference in November, with the goal of engaging city planners, attorneys, city council members, and mayors.
The executive director also referenced the federal 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which he said changed the federal definition of a manufactured home to allow construction with or without a traditional chassis. He said the change could allow the industry to build multi-story units and homes with ground-level profiles more consistent with site-built houses.
Cities with zoning codes that currently ban manufactured homes have until Sept. 1 to make accommodations or changes.
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