Kentucky's mobile home industry is pushing officials across the commonwealth to change rules that make it difficult for them to be built.
Officially a "manufactured home," industry leaders see them as a way to tackle the affordable housing crisis.
The issue is many towns and counties, including Lexington, don't allow them to be built without an exception being made, said Logan Hanes, the executive director of the Kentucky Manufactured Housing Institute, a trade organization for the industry.
"The ordinances that are in many cities now are based on that old stigma of this is an inferior product that isn't safe, that it's not cosmetically pleasing," Hanes said, explaining that's no longer the case.
Manufactured home builders can now tailor the appearance of the homes to match the surrounding community, he said.
They are also now required the have foundations that make them stronger.
Most people can't tell the difference between mobile homes and traditional homes now, he said.
A manufactured home was placed on the loading dock at the Central Bank Center, where the Kentucky League of Cities conference is taking place. They aim to share how manufactured homes can help tackle the affordable housing crisis with officials from counties and cities across the state who attend.
They have also been working with the Kentucky Housing Corporation to come up with guidelines for programs that would bring the homes to areas of Eastern Kentucky that were hard-hit by last year's floods.
