California has 5,231 active mobile home and RV parks which contain a total of 453,179 lots, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
By county, the number of manufactured home spaces include:
- 6,221 in Alameda;
- 7,148 in Fresno;
- 10,560 in Kern;
- 47,696 in Los Angeles;
- 28,757 in Orange;
- 34,266 in Riverside;
- 12,319 in Sacramento;
- 32,508 in San Bernardino;
- 39,401 in San Diego;
- 0 in San Francisco; and
- 17,878 in Santa Clara, according to the HCD.
There are 8 manufactured housing plants located in California to produce this type of housing across the state, according to the Manufactured Housing Institute.
Manufactured homes include a host of benefits for priced-out residents, since they are:
- safe;
- energy efficient;
- cost effective; and
- environmentally friendly.
Despite the advantages, these homes are curtailed by zoning restrictions which make them ineligible in certain neighborhoods and which limit the number of homes able to be built. California’s housing shortage only gets more severe when housing options are limited.
More acceptance of manufactured homes has the potential to chip away at California’s 980,000-unit housing deficit and provide more low-income housing options, according to Freddie Mac.
Related article:
Increasing access to manufactured housing
Besides restrictive zoning laws, access to manufactured housing in California is also limited by:
- diminished production levels;
- lack of mortgage financing options;
- unfamiliarity with manufactured homes among buyers, agents, appraisers and lenders; and
- declining numbers of manufactured housing communities.
To help support this type of housing, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have included manufactured housing as one of its three key housing markets in their Duty to Serve program, along with rural housing and low-income housing.
Between 2022-2024, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac intend to support manufactured housing by:
- increasing purchases of single-family mortgages secured by manufactured homes as real property, rather than as personal property;
- enhancing their support of manufactured housing communities through increased purchases of those types of mortgages, especially by government entities, nonprofit organizations and tribal communities;
- providing tenants in manufactured housing communities credit-building opportunities, including the reporting of rental payments to credit agencies to help build tenants’ credit scores; and
- supporting resident owned communities through purchasing more mortgages of this type and increasing outreach efforts.
Related article:
Fannie and Freddie unveil Underserved Markets Plans for California
California’s housing element, which is a requirement for local governments to plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in their community, requires a variety of housing types. This includes multifamily rental housing, factory-built housing, mobilehomes, housing for agricultural employees, supportive housing, single-room occupancy units, emergency shelters and transitional housing. [Calif. Government Code §§65583, 65583.2]
Providing opportunities for developing a variety of housing types promotes diversity in housing price, style and size, while also contributing to neighborhood stability by offering more priced right and entry-level homes to accommodate a diverse income mix, according to the HCD.
To get articles like these delivered weekly to your inbox, subscribe to the free firsttuesday Newsletter, Quilix.
Hello Amy,
Thank you for your article on Manufactured housing zoning in California. While zoning issues are problematic across the nation this is not the case in California. Our state leads the nation in nondiscriminatory zoning for manufactured housing. See California Government Code sections 65852.2, 65852.3, 65852.4, 65852.5 and California Civil Code 714. Year-to-date July 28.7% of our new m/home shipments have been installed as real property on in-fill lots in cities across the state.
While we don’t have a zoning problem you are spot on as to the other issues you cited in your article. If I can be of help please feel free to call on me.
Jess Maxcy
President
California Manufactured Housing Institute