SB 785: new manufactured homes inside Texas city limits
Texas Senate Bill 785 took effect on September 1, 2026 [13]. East Texas TV covered it as a law that stops cities from outright banning manufactured homes [17]. Here's what the bill text actually says, in plain English. This is general information, not legal advice.
What changed
- By-right zoning. A city with zoning must allow the installation of a new HUD-code manufactured home as a dwelling, by right, in at least one residential zoning classification or district, that district must actually apply to land in the city, and the city must mark those areas on its zoning map if it has one [13].
- No special-use-permit trap. A city can't require a specific use permit (or something that works like one) for a new HUD-code home if it doesn't require one for other homes in the same zoning [13].
Other rules in the same statute (Occupations Code §1201.008)
- 45-day clock. An application to install a new HUD-code home is treated as granted unless the city denies it in writing, with a reason, within 45 days of receiving it [13].
- No local permit fee for the move itself. Except as approved by TDHCA, a local government can't require a permit, fee, bond or insurance for a licensed retailer or installer to transport and install manufactured housing; it can recover actual costs caused by the transport [13].
What didn't change
- Used and older homes. SB 785 is about new HUD-code homes. TMHA says it doesn't apply to pre-1976 mobile homes or used manufactured homes [14].
- Deed restrictions established before January 2, 2025 still apply, and so do historic-district rules [13].
- Some small cities are exempt: those where every residential area had deed restrictions banning manufactured homes on September 1, 2025, and those with no business or industrial zoning (TMHA counts 14 such cities statewide) [13] [14].
- Cities still choose where. They only have to allow new homes in at least one district, not everywhere [14].
What to do in Tyler, Longview, Nacogdoches or Lufkin
- Ask the city's planning or development services office which district allows new HUD-code homes by right, and ask to see it on the zoning map.
- Check your deed and any subdivision restrictions.
- If the lot isn't on city sewer, line up the septic (OSSF) permit early [15].
- Hire a TDHCA-licensed installer and keep a copy of the Form T filing [9] [7].
Outside city limits, SB 785 doesn't apply; deed restrictions, septic permits and floodplain rules usually decide what you can do. See putting a mobile home on rural land in East Texas.