How big were mobile homes in the 1970s?

Author: Joy

Dec. 06, 2023

309 0 0

A recurring theme of this newsletter is the failure of prefabrication (building homes in factories instead of on-site) to revolutionize the housing industry. While it’s possible to build a successful construction business with prefabrication, it hasn’t swept away the old methods of building - building a home on-site remains the most common (and in most cases, the cheapest) way of building a house in the US. (Outside the US, prefabrication is often more popular, but it’s still not a low-cost method of building.) No one has yet managed to do for housing what Ford did for cars, or what Corning did for lightbulbs, or what Arkwright, Hargreaves, and Crompton did for cotton thread.

However, one form of prefabrication is able to reliably produce housing substantially cheaper than site-built methods - the manufactured home (formerly the mobile home, also called trailer homes or HUD homes). Manufactured homes are a particular type of factory-built housing that isn’t required to meet local building codes - instead, manufactured homes are built to the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, a federal standard administered by HUD. Manufactured homes have an average per-square-foot cost that’s less than half the cost of the average site-built home

(via the Manufactured Housing Institute)

(This is a somewhat misleading statistic, as site-built homes will be higher-end than manufactured homes on average and thus more expensive for reasons unrelated to production efficiency. Comparing like for like, the cost-per-square-foot of a manufactured home is somewhere around 10-35% less than the cost of a site-built home.)

Despite their lower cost, manufactured homes today make up a relatively small portion of the housing market. In 2021 manufactured homes were just over 6% of new housing units, with just over 100,000 manufactured homes shipped compared to 1.6 million single family and multifamily housing starts. But this wasn’t always the case - at its peak in the early 1970s, the mobile home industry (they didn’t “officially” become manufactured homes until 1980) was shipping 600,000 homes a year, and mobile homes were over 20% of new housing units.

(One statistic you sometimes see is that at one point mobile homes made up 60% of total new houses - this is incorrect. At one point mobile home units were around 50% of the number of single family homes built.)

Since lately there’s been renewed interest in manufactured homes as a potential low-cost housing solution, it’s useful to understand how the industry got to where it is. Why did manufactured homes explode in popularity only for the industry to collapse a few years later? Why aren’t manufactured homes more widely used today? Let’s take a look.

Origins of the manufactured home

The manufactured home can trace its origins to early 20th century camping trailers. In the 1910s and 1920s, car adoption was rapidly increasing - in 1910, there were around 500,000 cars in the US, which by 1925 had increased to 17.5 million cars. Car owners would often use their cars to go on camping trips, an activity which became known as “autocamping.” To avoid having to pack and unpack the campsite, and to get more comfort than a tent could provide, people began to build camping trailers that could be towed behind the car - by 1936 it was estimated that there were 300,000 camping trailers in the US. It’s estimated that around 75% of those trailers were homemade, but over time commercially-built ones became more popular. By 1936 most new trailers were purchased from commercial builders, and manufacturers were producing 55,000 trailers a year.

The Curtiss Aerocar camping trailer, which began production in the late 1920s

Early on, autocampers would park by the side of the road, or in a farmer’s field, or any other available space. But as camping became more popular, this became less tenable - a small town on a main road “might expect to see fifty to sixty cars seeking sites each night” [1]. Municipalities began to build campgrounds to accommodate the campers - between 1920 and 1924, an estimated 3 to 6,000 municipal campgrounds were built. And as camping trailers became more popular, campgrounds designed exclusively for trailers began to appear. These became known as “trailer parks.”

Almost as soon as trailers appeared, they began to be used for year-round living rather than camping trips, typically by traveling salesman or other itinerant workers. In the 1920s and 30s it was estimated that between 10 and 25% of trailers were used for year-round accommodation. And as unemployment soared and housing starts collapsed during the Great Depression, trailer living became more common. By 1937, it was estimated that 50% of new trailers were purchased as permanent shelter.

Then, as now, permanent trailer living was stigmatized. A 1937 article in Fortune described permanent trailer camps as “crooked rookeries of itinerant flophouses.” Many municipalities, such as Detroit and Toledo, placed maximum allowable times that trailers could be parked to try to prevent the appearance of “trailer shantytowns.” Lawsuits (such as People vs Gumarsol) were filed against trailer occupants who tried to occupy their trailers permanently.

The trailer industry had a delicate balance to strike - trailer living was becoming more common, which required favorable treatment by municipalities to allow trailer placement. But manufacturers also wanted to ensure that trailers remained classified as vehicles, rather than housing, to avoid having to comply with onerous building regulations and avoid conflict with building trade unions. In 1936, trailer manufacturers formed the Trailer Coach Manufacturers Association (TCMA) to advocate for legislative priorities, encourage favorable regulation, and ensure that trailers continue to be treated by governments as vehicles, rather than housing.

Trailers during and after WWII

The on-set of WWII resulted in a mass-migration of people across the country, as huge numbers of workers moved into areas of defense production. Ypsilanti, Michigan saw its population double between 1941 and 1942 as workers were brought in to staff the largest factory in the world. Orange, Texas saw its population grow from 7,400 to over 50,000 as ship production ramped up at the Port of Orange. The San Francisco Bay area’s population increased by 50% between 1940 and 1950. Altogether, nearly 1 million people migrated to defense areas during the war. This massive shift in population created a commensurate need for housing, much of which was fulfilled using trailers. 50,000 trailers were built for housing during the war, and altogether 120,000 trailers were used for housing in defense areas. In some cases (such as in Ypsilanti) up to 50% of new residents were housed in trailers.

However, the stigma associated with trailer living remained - trailer occupancy was considered another required sacrifice of wartime. One woman living in a trailer noted:

I have wondered how many times how many less employees would Willow Run Bomber Plant have if it were not for the men and women living in trailers - men and women who, like us, are praying and hoping for the day when they can go back home again, back to normal living.

Trailers were still largely considered to be substandard housing. The National Housing Agency (NHA), responsible for the supply of wartime housing, stated:

While Trailers are being used successfully as stop-gap war housing, they do not meet the standards of the National Housing Agency for duration housing for war workers. These wartime standard, moreover, have been cut to a minimum commensurate with providing adequate shelter for war workers and the NHA has no intention of going below them.

However, after the war the housing shortage remained, and full-time trailer living remained common. Large post-war government construction projects (such as dams and AEC facilities) continued to require the use of trailers to house workers. In 1947 trailer manufacturers produced 60,000 units, which rose 86,000 units in 1948 (though sales would collapse the next year). By 1948 it was estimated that 7% of the US population was living in house trailers, and in 1950 it was estimated that 99% of new trailers were purchases as housing. In 1954, the census estimated that there were 700,000 trailer dwellings in the US, most of them located in the more than 12,000 trailer parks across the country, most of them occupied by construction workers and military personnel.

Some time during this period, trailers began to be referred to as “mobile homes” - in 1952, Trailer Park Management magazine became “Mobile Home Park Management,” and in 1953 the Trailer Coach Manufacturing Association became the Mobile Home Manufacturing Association (MHMA).

Despite their increasing use as permanent housing, the stigma against trailers remained. Anthropological studies of trailer parks referred to them as “trailer slums,” and one municipal official was quoted in an article for Survey magazine:

A new kind of slum, the permanent trailer camp, offering all the bad features of the urban “blight area,” none of the vacation adventures for which trailers were made.
Trailer camp slums are a very real, if as yet unrecognized, menace to our American way of life. They should be eradicated now, even in the face of an acute housing shortage, for the creation of even more slums is not the solution to the problem of housing shortage.

As part of their advocacy work, the Mobile Home Manufacturer’s Association put substantial effort towards overcoming prejudices and fostering the development of mobile home parks. Partly due to this advocacy, in 1956, Congress authorized the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) to insure loans to finance new mobile home parks, helping to legitimize them (prior to this, mobile home parks were considered unimproved land).

Relaxing of size limitations

As mobile homes were increasingly used for permanent shelter, they were made larger and larger. Prior to WWII, few trailers were longer than 20 feet, but by 1952 74% of new trailers were longer than 30 feet. But further trailer size increases were limited by the ability to transport them. In 1954 “most states specified that house trailers could not be more than 12.5 ft high, 8 ft wide, and 35 ft long” - building within these dimensions limited a mobile home to just 280 square feet, a small fraction of what a typical site-built home (Levittown houses, for instance, were closer to 1000 square feet). And these dimensional limitations meant that units weren’t wide enough for a corridor, meaning the only way to access the ends was through the middle rooms, limiting privacy.

Manufacturers tried to use clever expansion mechanisms to create extra space, but while these had some success, they added expense, and the joints between moving sections were a frequent source of leaks and mechanical problems.

Vertically expanding mobile home offered by Liberty in 1946

In 1954, Marshfield Homes debuted a mobile home that was 10 ft wide. The brainchild of Elmer Frey, the 10-wide was too wide to be used as a regular vehicle - it could only be transported by acquiring special permits of limited duration (the original 10-wide was permitted as a construction shack, rather than a trailer). But the added width gave it additional space and provided enough room for a corridor. The 10-wide was an immediate success, and by 1961 98% of new mobile homes were 10-wides.

The introduction of the 10-wide meant that mobile homes were no longer especially mobile, and marked a major shift in the industry. While early mobile homes moved on average every 20 months, by 1970 they were moved only once every 5 years on average. Manufacturers of mobile trailers used for camping or vacationing (which remained within the 8-ft width limit) split off, forming the Recreational Vehicles Association in 1963. And while previously occupants of mobile homes had largely been itinerant workers (who were somewhat more affluent than average), the larger, less mobile mobile homes increasingly appealed to those in need of low-cost housing (and were thus somewhat less affluent than average). The industry transitioned from one that supplied movable housing, to one supplying low-cost housing.

With the need to move them regularly abandoned, the only thing restricting the size of mobile homes was state highway transportation limitations. In the early 1960s, thanks to industry lobbying efforts, most state regulations were relaxed to allow the transportation of 12-ft wide units, and by 1972 12-wides made up 85% of new mobile homes. The 12-wide was followed by the 14-wide, and the “doublewide” (a mobile home created by stitching two units together). Length restrictions were eased as well, and by the 1970s the typical mobile home unit was 65 feet long.

As mobile homes got larger, the structure of their production changed. The industry had grown up as a largely centralized one, near car manufacturing plants in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio (taking advantage of auto part suppliers, as well as the expertise of the auto manufacturing labor pool), with another center of production in California. But as the size of units increased and transportation costs became a larger concern, production decentralized, with plants increasingly being built near where the homes would be placed. In 1952 Texas had 2 mobile home plants, and Florida had 1 - 20 years later, that had risen to 92 and 70 plants, respectively. By 1972 there were mobile home plants in 45 states.

Industry expansion

The relaxation of highway regulations allowing transportation of larger units made mobile homes competitive as a low-cost housing option, and sales of them exploded. Mobile home sales increased from 90,000 in 1960 to nearly 600,000 in 1972, going from 8% to 22% of annual housing units produced. By 1974 mobile homes were produced by over 300 firms in 800 plants across the country, and across the country 9 million people were living in nearly 4 million mobile homes. 41% of those mobile homes were in trailer parks, which now numbered over 24,000. The largest mobile home manufacturer (Skyline) sold more than 50,000 mobile homes a year, more than any other homebuilder, and according to Forbes, the top 3 most profitable companies between 1968 and 1973 were mobile home manufacturers. As part of its efforts to encourage the creation of mobile home parks, by the early 1970s the Mobile Home Manufacturer’s Association had become the world’s largest residential land developer.

This growth occurred largely in the South - between 1960 and 1974 the South added 1.6 million mobile homes, more than every other region of the country combined.

However, this growth didn’t reduce the stigma associated with mobile homes. In the early 1970s, 60% of communities excluded mobile homes from being sited on private lots, and a survey by the American Planners Association found that residents in 80% of communities wanted to exclude mobile homes. Metro areas often tried to prevent the construction of new mobile home parks, with cities such as Des Moine and Miami putting a moratorium on new park construction. The state of Illinois approved just 1 mobile home park between 1955 and 1975. Outside of parks, mobile homes were largely relegated to areas outside of cities where there were fewer zoning restrictions (75% of rural counties allowed mobile home placement on private lots, compared to just 31% within cities and 20% within suburbs). Where mobile homes were allowed, they were often restricted from being located in residential areas - 15% of communities only allowed mobile homes in areas zoned for commercial or industrial.

Despite this stigma, mobile homes were gradually gaining acceptance (however reluctantly) as a legitimate housing option. In the 1960s mobile homes became eligible for FHA and VA mortgage financing, and in 1970 Richard Nixon (in an effort to show that housing construction goals had been met) included mobile homes in total number of new housing units built for the first time in his address to Congress.

Increasing scrutiny

As the number of mobile homes and the visibility of the industry grew, the mobile homes themselves were subject to increasing scrutiny. Because mobile homes weren’t subject to local building codes, manufacturers could build them with whatever materials they deemed appropriate, which typically meant using lighter, cheaper materials than would be found in conventional homes. Mobile homes used thinner plywood, 2x2 or 2x3 wood studs instead of 2x4s, plastic instead of metal, and glues instead of nails or screws.

Beginning in the late 1950s the industry began to develop a minimum set of quality standards. Working with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the industry developed ANSI/NFPA standards 119.1, which governed electrical, heating, and plumbing requirements. In 1969, structural requirements were added. 119.1 was a performance-based code - mobile home manufacturers could use any method of construction as long as certain performance parameters were met. By 1975, 40 states had adopted some version of the 119.1 standard as state regulations for mobile homes.

However, these provisions were often lightly enforced, and quality problems with mobile homes often remained. A 1973 survey of Ohio mobile home owners found that 65% had problems with waterproofing the first year, and a survey of mobile homes on dealer and factory lots in California found that 94% failed to meet state requirements. A manufacturer that tried to offer an extensive 1-year warranty found that they “nearly lost their shirts,” as their warranty servicing costs were 4x higher than the industry average. Complaints documented by the Center for Automotive Safety included mobile homes that had one-inch of insulation instead of the advertised 3 inches, and aluminum wiring instead of copper.

Mobile homes often lost their value quickly compared to site-built homes. Via “Mobile Homes: the low-cost housing hoax”:

A survey of the industry’s own “blue book” indicates that the average mobile home is worth 63% of its purchase price after 4.5 years and only 28% of its original price after 10.5 years. In 1971 the Whirlpool corporation funded a study of mobile home longevity based on census data, which indicates the average life of a mobile home is 16 years.

Mobile homes were also more susceptible to other kinds of damage. Early mobile homes were apparently often called “ten second trailers” because of how quickly they would burn in a fire, and insurance studies found that, while mobile homes were no more likely to be in a fire than conventional homes (and in some cases they were less likely), the average losses from fire damage were up to 50% higher in mobile homes than site-built homes (despite the fact that mobile homes were on average smaller and cheaper than conventional construction). And mobile homes were more than 30 times as likely to be destroyed in a windstorm as conventional homes (though the absolute number of homes affected remained low).

In response to the perceived need for greater regulation, in 1974 Congress passed the Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act. This gave HUD the power to create and regulate mobile home safety standards, marking another major industry change.

This will continue next week with Part II

Unless otherwise noted, information from this article is from Arthur Wallis’ “Wheel Estate” and Arthur Bernhardt’s “Building Tomorrow”

These posts will always remain free, but if you find this work valuable, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber. As a paid subscriber, you’ll help support this work and also gain access to a members-only slack channel.

Construction Physics is produced in partnership with the Institute for Progress, a Washington, DC-based think tank. You can learn more about their work by visiting their website.

You can also contact me on Twitter, LinkedIn, or by email: briancpotter@gmail.com

Prefabricated structure attached to a chassis

This article is about the prefabricated structure referred to as a mobile home. For recreation vehicles sometimes referred to as mobile homes, see Recreational vehicle . For other uses, see Mobile home (disambiguation)

"Static Caravan" redirects here. For the record label, see Static Caravan Recordings

"House on wheels" redirects here. For the South Korean variety show, see House on Wheels

Typical mobile home from the late 1960s and early 1970s: 12 by 60 feet (3.7 by 18.3 m) 1958 photo of Zimmer trailer in a trailer park in Tampa, Florida

A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). Used as permanent homes, or for holiday or temporary accommodation, they are often left permanently or semi-permanently in one place, but can be moved, and may be required to move from time to time for legal reasons.

Mobile homes share the same historic origins as travel trailers, but today the two are very different, with travel trailers being used primarily as temporary or vacation homes. Behind the cosmetic work fitted at installation to hide the base, mobile homes have strong trailer frames, axles, wheels, and tow-hitches.

History
[
edit
]

In the United States, this form of housing goes back to the early years of cars and motorized highway travel.[1] It was derived from the travel trailer (often referred to during the early years as "house trailers" or "trailer coaches"), a small unit with wheels attached permanently, often used for camping or extended travel. The original rationale for this type of housing was its mobility. Units were initially marketed primarily to people whose lifestyle required mobility. However, in the 1950s, the homes began to be marketed primarily as an inexpensive form of housing designed to be set up and left in a location for long periods of time or even permanently installed with a masonry foundation. Previously, units had been eight feet or fewer in width, but in 1956, the 10-foot (3.0 m) wide home ("ten-wide") was introduced, along with the new term "mobile home".[2]

The homes were given a rectangular shape, made from pre-painted aluminum panels, rather than the streamlined shape of travel trailers, which were usually painted after assembly. All of this helped increase the difference between these homes and home/travel trailers. The smaller, "eight-wide" units could be moved simply with a car, but the larger, wider units ("ten-wide", and, later, "twelve-wide") usually required the services of a professional trucking company, and, often, a special moving permit from a state highway department. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the homes were made even longer and wider, making the mobility of the units more difficult. Nowadays, when a factory-built home is moved to a location, it is usually kept there permanently and the mobility of the units has considerably decreased. In some states, mobile homes have been taxed as personal property if the wheels remain attached, but as real estate, if the wheels are removed. Removal of the tongue and axles may also be a requirement for real estate classification.

Manufactured home
[
edit
]

Example of a modern manufactured home in New Alexandria, Pennsylvania. 28 by 60 feet (8.5 m × 18.3 m)

Mobile homes built in the United States since June 1976, legally referred to as manufactured homes, are required to meet FHA certification requirements and come with attached metal certification tags. Mobile homes permanently installed on owned land are rarely mortgageable, whereas FHA code manufactured homes are mortgageable through VA, FHA, and Fannie Mae.

Many people who could not afford a traditional site-built home, or did not desire to commit to spending a large sum of money on housing, began to see factory-built homes as a viable alternative for long-term housing needs. The units were often marketed as an alternative to apartment rental. However, the tendency of the units of this era to depreciate rapidly in resale value[citation needed] made using them as collateral for loans much riskier than traditional home loans. Terms were usually limited to less than the thirty-year term typical of the general home-loan market, and interest rates were considerably higher.[citation needed] In that way, mobile home loans resembled motor vehicle loans more than traditional home mortgage loans.

Construction and sizes
[
edit
]

Exterior wall assemblies being set in place during manufacture

Mobile homes come in two major sizes, single-wides and double-wides. Single-wides are 18 feet (5.5 m) or less in width and 90 feet (27 m) or less in length and can be towed to their site as a single unit. Double-wides are 20 feet (6.1 m) or more wide and are 90 feet (27 m) in length or less and are towed to their site in two separate units, which are then joined. Triple-wides and even homes with four, five, or more units are also built but less frequently.

While site-built homes are rarely moved, single-wide owners often "trade" or sell their home to a dealer in the form of the reduction of the purchase of a new home. These "used" homes are either re-sold to new owners or to park owners who use them as inexpensive rental units. Single-wides are more likely to be traded than double-wides because removing them from the site is easier. In fact, only about 5% of all double-wides will ever be moved.[citation needed]

While an EF1 tornado might cause minor damage to a site-built home, it could do significant damage to a factory-built home, especially an older model or one that is not properly secured. Also, structural components (such as windows) are typically weaker than those in site-built homes.[3] 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) winds can destroy a mobile home in a matter of minutes. Many brands offer optional hurricane straps, which can be used to tie the home to anchors embedded in the ground.

Regulations
[
edit
]
Additional reading:
Automobiles & Motorcycles

How to avoid issues with brake discs?
Factors to Consider When Choosing Car Mats
Vehicle Mounted ATV Winch: Your Off-Roading Companion
How Long Do Brake Discs Last?
What Are the Two Main Functions of a Condenser?
Is 3M paint protection film worth it?
United States
[
edit
]

Home struck by F2 tornado

In the United States, mobile homes are regulated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), via the Federal National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974. This national regulation has allowed many manufacturers to distribute nationwide because they are immune to the jurisdiction of local building authorities.[4] [5]: 1 By contrast, producers of modular homes must abide by state and local building codes. There are, however, wind zones adopted by HUD that home builders must follow. For example, statewide, Florida is at least wind zone 2. South Florida is wind zone 3, the strongest wind zone. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, new standards were adopted for home construction. The codes for building within these wind zones were significantly amended, which has greatly increased their durability. During the 2004 hurricanes in Florida, these standards were put to the test, with great success. Yet, older models continue to face the exposed risk to high winds because of the attachments applied such as carports, porch and screen room additions. Such areas are exposed to "wind capture" which apply extreme force to the underside of the integrated roof panel systems, ripping the fasteners through the roof pan causing a series of events which destroys the main roof system and the home.

The popularity of the factory-built homes caused complications the legal system was not prepared to handle. Originally, factory-built homes tended to be taxed as vehicles rather than real estate, which resulted in very low property tax rates for their inhabitants. That caused local governments to reclassify them for taxation purposes.

However, even with that change, rapid depreciation often resulted in the home occupants paying far less in property taxes than had been anticipated and budgeted. The ability to move many factory-built homes rapidly into a relatively small area resulted in strains to the infrastructure and governmental services of the affected areas, such as inadequate water pressure and sewage disposal, and highway congestion. That led jurisdictions to begin placing limitations on the size and density of developments.

Early homes, even those that were well-maintained, tended to depreciate over time, much like motor vehicles. That is in contrast to site-built homes which include the land they are built on and tend to appreciate in value. The arrival of mobile homes in an area tended to be regarded with alarm, in part because of the devaluation of the housing potentially spreading to preexisting structures.

This combination of factors has caused most jurisdictions to place zoning regulations on the areas in which factory-built homes are placed, and limitations on the number and density of homes permitted on any given site. Other restrictions, such as minimum size requirements, limitations on exterior colors and finishes, and foundation mandates have also been enacted. There are many jurisdictions that will not allow the placement of any additional factory-built homes. Others have strongly limited or forbidden all single-wide models, which tend to depreciate more rapidly than modern double-wide models.

Apart from all the practical issues described above, there is also the constant discussion about legal fixture and chattels and so the legal status of a trailer is or could be affected by its incorporation to the land or not. This sometimes involves such factors as whether or not the wheels have been removed.

North Carolina
[
edit
]

The North Carolina Board of Transportation allowed 14-foot-wide homes on the state's roads, but until January 1997, 16-foot-wide homes were not allowed. 41 states allowed 16-foot-side homes, but they were not sold in North Carolina. Under a trial program approved January 10, 1997, the wider homes could be delivered on specific roads at certain times of day and travel 10 mph below the speed limit, with escort vehicles in front and behind.[6][7] Eventually, all homes had to leave the state on interstate highways.[8]

In December 1997, a study showed that the wider homes could be delivered safely, but some opponents still wanted the program to end.[9] On December 2, 1999, the NC Manufactured Housing Institute asked the state Board of Transportation to expand the program to allow deliveries of 16-foot-wide homes within North Carolina.[8] A month later, the board extended the pilot program by three months but did not vote to allow shipments within the state.[10] In June 2000, the board voted to allow 16-foot-side homes to be shipped to other states on more two-lane roads, and to allow shipments in the state east of US 220. A third escort was required, including a law enforcement officer on two-lane roads.[11]

New York
[
edit
]

In New York State, the Homes and Community Renewal agency tracks mobile home parks and provides regulations concerning them. For example, the agency requires park owners to provide residents with a $15,000 grant if residents are forced to move when the land is transferred to a new owner. Residents are also granted the right of first refusal for a sale of the park, however, if the owner does not evict tenants for five years, the land sale can go ahead. State law also restricts the annual increase in land lot fee to a cap of 3 percent, unless the landowner demonstrates hardship in a local court, and can then raise the land lot fee by up to 6 percent in a year.[12]

Mobile home parks
[
edit
]

Meadow Lanes Estates Mobile Home Park, Ames, Iowa, August 2010, during a flood

Mobile homes are often sited in land lease communities known as trailer parks (also 'trailer courts', 'mobile home parks', 'mobile home communities', 'manufactured home communities', 'factory-built home communities' etc.); these communities allow homeowners to rent space on which to place a home. In addition to providing space, the site often provides basic utilities such as water, sewer, electricity, or natural gas and other amenities such as mowing, garbage removal, community rooms, pools, and playgrounds.

There are over 38,000[13] trailer parks in the United States ranging in size from 5 to over 1,000 home sites. Although most parks appeal to meeting basic housing needs, some communities specialize towards certain segments of the market. One subset of mobile home parks, retirement communities, restrict residents to those age 55 and older. Another subset of mobile home parks, seasonal communities, are located in popular vacation destinations or are used as a location for summer homes. In New York State, as of 2019, there were 1,811 parks with 83,929 homes.[12]

Newer homes, particularly double-wides, tend to be built to much higher standards than their predecessors and meet the building codes applicable to most areas. That has led to a reduction in the rate of value depreciation of most used units.[14]

Additionally, modern homes tend to be built from materials similar to those used in site-built homes rather than inferior, lighter-weight materials. They are also more likely to physically resemble site-built homes. Often, the primary differentiation in appearance is that factory-built homes tend to have less of a roof slope so that they can be readily transported underneath bridges and overpasses.[citation needed]

The number of double-wide units sold exceeds the number of single-wides, which is due in part to the aforementioned zoning restrictions. Another reason for higher sales is the spaciousness of double-wide units, which are now comparable to site-built homes. Single-wide units are still popular primarily in rural areas, where there are fewer restrictions. They are frequently used as temporary housing in areas affected by natural disasters when restrictions are temporarily waived.[citation needed]

Another recent trend has been parks in which the owner of the mobile home owns the lot on which their unit is parked. Some of these communities simply provide land in a homogeneous neighborhood, but others are operated more like condominiums with club homes complete with swimming pools and meeting rooms which are shared by all of the residents, who are required to pay membership fees and dues.

By country
[
edit
]

Mobile home (or mobile-homes) are used in many European campgrounds to refer to fixed caravans, purpose-built cabins, and even large tents, which are rented by the week or even year-round as cheap accommodation, similar to the US concept of a trailer park. Like many other US loanwords, the term is not used widely in Britain.[citation needed]

United Kingdom
[
edit
]

The Lookout Lodge, a mobile home by Prestige Homeseeker, marketed as a holiday home

Mobile Homes or Static Caravans are popular across the United Kingdom. They are more commonly referred to as Park Homes or Leisure Lodges, depending on if they are marketed as a residential dwelling or as a second holiday home residence.

Residential Mobile homes (park homes) are built to the BS3632 standard. This standard is issued by the British Standards Institute. The institute is a UK body who produce a range of standards for businesses and products to ensure they are fit for purpose. The majority of residential parks in the UK have a minimum age limit for their residents, and are generally marketed as retirement or semi-retirement parks. Holiday Homes, static caravans or holiday lodges aren't required to be built to BS3632 standards, but many are built to the standard.

A static caravan park on the cliffs above Beer, Devon, England

In addition to mobile homes, static caravans are popular across the UK. Static caravans have wheels and a rudimentary chassis with no suspension or brakes and are therefore transported on the back of large flatbed lorries, the axle and wheels being used for movement to the final location when the static caravan is moved by tractor or 4×4. A static caravan normally stays on a single plot for many years and has many of the modern conveniences one would normally find in a home.

Mobile homes are designed and constructed to be transportable by road in one or two sections. Mobile homes are no larger than 20 m × 6.8 m (65 ft 7 in × 22 ft 4 in) with an internal maximum height of 3.05 m (10 ft 0 in). Legally, mobile homes can still be defined as "caravans".

Static holiday caravans generally have sleeping accommodation for 6 to 10 people in 2, 3 or 4 bedrooms and on convertible seating in the lounge referred to as a 'pull out bed'. They tend towards a fairly "open-plan" layout, and while some units are double glazed and centrally heated for year-round use, cheaper models without double glazing or central heating are available for mainly summer use. Static caravan holiday homes are intended for leisure use and are available in 10 and 12 ft (3.0 and 3.7 m) widths, a small number in 13 and 14 ft (4.0 and 4.3 m) widths, and a few 16 ft (4.9 m) wide, consisting of two 8 ft (2.4 m) wide units joined. Generally, holiday homes are clad in painted steel panels, but can be clad in PVC, timber or composite materials. Static caravans are sited on caravan parks where the park operator of the site leases a plot to the caravan owner. There are many holiday parks in the UK in which one's own static caravan can be owned. There are a few of these parks in areas that are prone to flooding and anyone considering buying a sited static caravan needs to take particular care in checking that their site is not liable to flooding.

Static caravans can be rented on an ad-hoc basis or purchased. Purchase prices range from £25,000 to £100,000. Once purchased, static caravans have various ongoing costs including insurance, site fees, local authority rates, utility charges, winterisation and depreciation. Depending on the type of caravan and the park these costs can range from £1,000 to £40,000 per year.[15] Some park owners used to have unfair conditions in their lease contracts but the Office of Fair Trading has produced a guidance document available for download called Unfair Terms in Holiday Caravan Agreements which aims to stop unfair practices.

Israel
[
edit
]

Posting of caravan in Mitzpe Hila, Israel, 1982

Many Israeli settlements and outposts are originally composed of caravans (Hebrew: קראוואן caravan; pl. קראוואנים, caravanim). They are constructed of light metal, are not insulated but can be outfitted with heating and air-conditioning units, water lines, recessed lighting, and floor tiling to function in a full-service capacity. Starting in 2005, prefabricated homes, named caravillas (Hebrew: קרווילה), a portmanteau of the words caravan, and villa, begin to replace mobile homes in many Israeli settlements.

Difference from modular homes
[
edit
]

Because of similarities in the manufacturing process, some companies build both types in their factories. Modular homes are transported on flatbed trucks rather than being towed, and lack axles and an automotive-type frame. However, some modular homes are towed behind a semi-truck or toter on a frame similar to that of a trailer. The home is usually in two pieces and is hauled by two separate trucks. Each frame has five or more axles, depending on the size of the home. Once the home has reached its location, the axles and the tongue of the frame are then removed, and the home is set on a concrete foundation by a large crane.

Both styles are commonly referred to as factory-built housing, but that term's technical use is restricted to a class of homes regulated by the Federal National Mfd. Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974.

Most zoning restrictions on the homes have been found to be inapplicable or only applicable to modular homes. That occurs often after considerable litigation on the topic by affected jurisdictions and by plaintiffs failing to ascertain the difference. Most modern modulars, once fully assembled, are indistinguishable from site-built homes. Their roofs are usually transported as separate units. Newer modulars also come with roofs that can be raised during the setting process with cranes. There are also modulars with 2 to 4 storeys.

Gallery
[
edit
]

Construction starts with the frame.
Interior wall assemblies are attached.
Roof assembly is set atop home.
Drywall is completed.
Home is ready for delivery to site.
A modern "triple wide" home, designed to look like an adobe home
A mobile home is being moved, California.
A mobile home being prepared for transport