Manufactured homes are put together in factories, transported to land plots and typically cost less than houses constructed on site — ultimately resulting in cost savings for the people who live in them.
Despite offering a more affordable option, legislators and industry members say these factory-built homes still face the stigma of being poorly made, unsafe and other misconceptions.
Randy Grumbine, executive director of the Virginia Manufactured and Modular Housing Association, says this has kept them out of certain areas.
"We have been, for the most part, restricted to agricultural zoning only, unless more broadly adopted by the local jurisdictions, although most have not done so," he said.
As part of a broader effort to increase Virginia's housing stock, one of the first pieces of legislation Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed will expand where manufactured homes can go.
Under the impending law, which goes into effect July 1, manufactured homes can be placed in any residential zoning district that allows traditional site-built housing, with certain exceptions for historic districts.
Local governments also can't implement different rules or additional restrictions for manufactured homes than single-family homes in the same district.
The bills from Del. Michelle Lopes Maldonado (D—Prince William) and state Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D—Henrico) sailed near-unanimously out of the Virginia General Assembly during the 2026 session.
Both Maldonado and VanValkenburg said manufactured homes are typically seen as trailers or mobile homes, which they said is an outdated view.
They told VPM News these factory-built homes, which are placed on a steel frame that can be moved but many times are attached to the foundation, are often indistinguishable from traditional homes that are built on site.
According to Grumbine, 1,548 new manufactured homes were built in Virginia last year, which he said puts the commonwealth at 23rd in the US in 2025.
Grumbine says he thinks the new law "could be very significant," because it will remove barriers that have been in place for decades.
"I don't think it will change overnight," he said. "We won't double our productivity in the first year, but in five to 10 years, I do think, yes, we definitely could double the amount of homes we're doing in a year."
Manufactured homes offer certain benefits, according to Grumbine, including a faster and cheaper approach to help build up Virginia's housing supply.
He said that a factory in Rocky Mount, Virginia, is staffed with 160 employees who build homes every day: "And so you can imagine what 160 folks can do, and the efficiency of that doing at your station, doing the same processes over and over again. It allows for efficiencies of scale, efficiencies in ordering your materials, very little waste and as a result of that, very affordable pricing as a result."
One study found that in 2020 the cost of a single-section manufactured home "was $56,956, or just 35 percent of the $161,796 cost of a comparable site-built home."
Fewer Virginians can afford to buy a home because of rising prices, according to a 2021 report from JLARC, the General Assembly's research arm. The same report found Virginia lacks enough affordable rental units to meet needs, driving lawmakers to push for legislation to increase housing options and help protect tenants.
A 2025 study found that Virginia still faces an affordable housing unit shortage, and people spend too much on housing.
Maldonado and VanValkenburg said the legislation gives Virginia a way to help drive down housing costs, a top priority for Spanberger and all Virginia lawmakers.
"We're trying to figure out ways to relieve some of the pressure right, to release some of the pressure valve around affordability, accessibility, attainability and inventory," Maldonado told VPM News.
VanValkenburg added that he believes Virginia's ongoing housing crisis, which has exacerbated issues such as pricing people out of being homeowners with high costs and has driven skyrocketing rent prices, needs "concrete changes in dozens of areas."
"Some of it's permitting, some of it's zoning, some of it's the building codes, some of it's money," he added. "And this is an example where we can tweak zoning, and by doing so, ensure that more people can have access to a home."
The Democrats legislators also applauded the widespread bipartisan support their legislation received, adding that housing concerns don't always fall along the ideological partisan lines that other issues often do.
"The need for affordable and attainable housing is not a Democratic or Republican issue," Maldonado said. "It is all of the people that each of us, individually and collectively represent, who are experiencing these challenges."
Spanberger has also signed legislation to increase how much can go towards affordable housing. In a statement announcing the first round of housing bill signings, Spanberger said the new laws would help cut "red tape so more Virginians can find housing that fits their budget."
The governor has several other housing related measures on her desk. This includes a measure to give local governments the power to require property owners to accept a right of first refusal offer — which gives a locality or developer the first chance to buy property — to build affordable housing.
"It's slow and steady. But, you know, slow and steady over a series of years is a big difference. And so we have to do it," VanValkenburg said. "We have to do it if we want my kids and our kids to stay here. We have to do it if we want businesses to stay here or come here, and we have to do it if we want to be a place where the average family can thrive."
Spanberger has until April 13 to sign, amend or veto legislation passed during the 2026 session. Any measure she doesn't sign still becomes law.
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