North Carolina County and Code Starting Points

New Hanover County Manufactured Home Starting Points

New Hanover County zones only the unincorporated county - Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach and Kure Beach write their own rules - and inside that jurisdiction the Unified Development Ordinance answers the question with a single table. Table 4.2.1 runs 23 districts across the top and says in its own legend that a blank cell means not allowed. A doublewide mobile home is permitted by right in six residential districts and in PD. A single-wide is permitted by right in four, and in the two largest-lot rural districts - RA and R-20 - it is a special use, which here means a public hearing in front of the Board of Commissioners. Nine districts allow a single-family detached house by right and allow no mobile home of any kind, including R-20S, which carries the same 20,000-square-foot minimum lot as the R-20 next door. The size of the home decides which row you are in: the ordinance defines a doublewide as a unit measuring at least 24 feet by 40 feet, so a smaller multi-section home falls to the single-wide row and can lose a by-right answer. And in the Coastal High Hazard Area - the VE zone - the ordinance permits no manufactured home at all except in a park or subdivision that already exists.

Manufactured Home Land Check

Will this New Hanover County land take a manufactured home? Find out before you commit to buying the land, or the home.

Buying land, already own it, or selling it — one report on what the county and the land will allow.

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Common Questions

Mobile homes in New Hanover County, answered from the county's own sources.

Can I put a mobile home on my land in New Hanover County?

Is there anything in New Hanover County that could stop a mobile home on this land?

Nine districts take a site-built house by right and no mobile home at all. The gap between the two rows is the finding a buyer needs. Sixteen districts allow a single-family detached house outright. Nine of those sixteen carry no mark in any mobile home row: R-20S, R-5, RMF-L, RMF-M, RMF-MH, RMF-H, UMXZ, O&I and AC. In those districts a modular or site-built house is a by-right use and a manufactured home is not permitted, and the ordinance's legend is explicit that a blank is a refusal rather than a silence. Twenty-four by forty. The size of the home decides which row of the table you are in. The ordinance's definition section draws the line by measurement, not by marketing: 'MOBILE HOME, DOUBLEWIDE - A mobile home designed to be joined into one integral unit that measures at least 24 feet by 40 feet.' A multi-section home smaller than that is not a doublewide here. It falls to the Mobile Home row, and in RA and R-20 that turns a by-right answer into a Board of Commissioners hearing, and in PD it removes the answer entirely. In the Coastal High Hazard Area the ordinance permits no new manufactured home. This is a coastal county, and Section 9.8.6 of the ordinance covers the Coastal High Hazard Area, which the flood chapter identifies as the VE zone. Subsection K is one sentence and it is a refusal: 'No manufactured homes shall be permitted except in an existing manufactured home park or subdivision. A replacement manufactured home may be placed on a lot in an existing manufactured home park or subdivision, provided the anchoring and elevation standards of this section have been satisfied.' A parcel can sit in a district that allows a doublewide by right and still be closed to one by this section. Source: New Hanover County Unified Development Ordinance, adopted February 3, 2020, amendments through October 6, 2025 (PDF), reviewed 2026-09-20.

Which zoning districts in New Hanover County allow a mobile home?

Twenty-three districts across the top of the table. A doublewide gets six of them by right. New Hanover County answers this question in one place: Table 4.2.1, the Principal Use Table, on ordinance page 4-4. The ordinance sets out the legend before the table: a P means permitted by right, an S means allowed only if approved as a special use, an asterisk means use-specific standards apply, and - in the ordinance's own words - 'A blank cell indicates that the use is not allowed in the respective zoning district.' Four separate rows carry mobile homes, and they do not say the same thing. Source: New Hanover County Unified Development Ordinance, adopted February 3, 2020, amendments through October 6, 2025 (PDF), reviewed 2026-09-20.

What permits does a mobile home need in New Hanover County?

The ordinance covers the unincorporated county. Four towns write their own. Section 1.4.1 sets the boundary: 'The regulations set forth in this Ordinance shall be applicable within the planning jurisdiction of unincorporated New Hanover County, unless land or development is expressly exempted by a specific section or subsection of this Ordinance.' Section 3.1.2.A repeats it from the other side - 'portions of unincorporated New Hanover County are hereby divided into the zoning districts identified in Table 3.1.2.A.' Inside Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach or Kure Beach, a different ordinance decides and this page does not apply. Source: New Hanover County Unified Development Ordinance, adopted February 3, 2020, amendments through October 6, 2025 (PDF), reviewed 2026-09-20.

What happens if the land is in a flood zone in New Hanover County?

What the district costs you in land, before the home arrives. Each district sets its own dimensional standards, and the numbers below are for a single-family detached use, which is how a single manufactured home on its own lot is measured. Every residential district here caps building height at 40 feet, and the ordinance allows 44 feet for a structure elevated on piers, posts, columns or piles - which is the coastal case, and the case a manufactured home in a flood zone is likely to be. Source: New Hanover County Unified Development Ordinance, adopted February 3, 2020, amendments through October 6, 2025 (PDF), reviewed 2026-09-20.

Manufactured Home Placement Questions

Start with what the sources actually support.

Do I need a permit for a mobile home in New Hanover County?

The ordinance applies to the unincorporated county only - the four municipalities zone their own land

Table 4.2.1 runs 23 districts, and its legend states that a blank cell means the use is not allowed

Mobile Home, Doublewide: permitted by right in RA, AR, R-20, R-15, R-10, R-7 and PD

Mobile Home, single section: permitted by right in AR, R-15, R-10 and R-7 only

In RA and R-20 a single-section home is a special use, not a by-right use

A special use permit for a mobile home is decided by the Board of Commissioners at a public hearing

Nine districts allow a single-family detached house by right and no mobile home of any kind

R-20S allows a house by right and no mobile home, on the same 20,000-square-foot minimum lot as R-20

RMF-MH is Residential Multi-Family Medium-High Density, not manufactured housing, and it allows none

A doublewide is defined as a unit that measures at least 24 feet by 40 feet

A doublewide must have a gabled roof and a continuous unpierced permanent masonry foundation

Wheels, axles, transportation lights and towing apparatus must be removed from a doublewide

In the I-1 and I-2 industrial districts a mobile home is a special use and takes R-15 dimensions

In the Coastal High Hazard Area no manufactured home is permitted outside an existing park or subdivision

New and replacement manufactured homes in a flood zone must be elevated and securely anchored

A mobile home park needs at least three spaces, and no park space may be in the 100-year floodplain

A mobile home park space is at least 5,000 square feet, and 6,000 for multi-section units

Three or more contiguous lots for mobile homes is a mobile home subdivision, a special use in six districts

A mobile home, RV or manufactured home may not be used as an accessory dwelling unit

A nonconforming single-wide may be replaced with a doublewide, but 180 days of removal ends that right

New Hanover County Local Process Guide

Official-source-backed starting points and questions to verify.

These sections organize the public source links already reviewed for this page. Where a source does not answer a project-specific question, the item is framed as something to ask the county, AHJ, utility company, licensed professional, dealer, setup contractor, or responsible provider.

The finding

Twenty-three districts across the top of the table. A doublewide gets six of them by right.

New Hanover County answers this question in one place: Table 4.2.1, the Principal Use Table, on ordinance page 4-4. The ordinance sets out the legend before the table: a P means permitted by right, an S means allowed only if approved as a special use, an asterisk means use-specific standards apply, and - in the ordinance's own words - 'A blank cell indicates that the use is not allowed in the respective zoning district.' Four separate rows carry mobile homes, and they do not say the same thing.

The 23 columns are RA, AR, R-20S, R-20, R-15, R-10, R-7, R-5, RMF-L, RMF-M, RMF-MH, RMF-H, PD, UMXZ, B-1, CB, B-2, O&I, SC, CS, AC, I-1 and I-2.
Mobile Home, Doublewide: P with an asterisk in RA, AR, R-20, R-15, R-10, R-7 and PD. Seven marks, six of them residential.
Mobile Home - the single-section row: P in AR, R-15, R-10 and R-7. S in RA and R-20. S with an asterisk in I-1 and I-2.
Mobile Home Park: S with an asterisk in RA, R-15, R-10 and R-7, and P in PD.
Mobile Home Subdivision: S in RA, AR, R-20, R-15, R-10 and R-7, and nothing anywhere else.
For comparison, on the same page, Dwelling, Single-Family Detached carries a P in sixteen of the 23 districts and a special use mark in two more.
The RFMU and EDZD districts are not columns in this table at all - the ordinance says their permissions are set out in Article 3 instead.
The table was read twice for this page: from the rendered ordinance page, and from the extracted text with each mark matched to the column centre it sits under, to a fifth of a point. Both readings agree.

Adverse finding

Nine districts take a site-built house by right and no mobile home at all.

The gap between the two rows is the finding a buyer needs. Sixteen districts allow a single-family detached house outright. Nine of those sixteen carry no mark in any mobile home row: R-20S, R-5, RMF-L, RMF-M, RMF-MH, RMF-H, UMXZ, O&I and AC. In those districts a modular or site-built house is a by-right use and a manufactured home is not permitted, and the ordinance's legend is explicit that a blank is a refusal rather than a silence.

R-20S is the one to watch. Its minimum lot area is 20,000 square feet - the same as R-20 - and its stated purpose is to accommodate 'primarily very low density single-family development.' R-20 allows a doublewide by right. R-20S allows none.
RMF-MH reads like a manufactured housing district and is not one. Table 3.1.2.A names it Residential Multi-Family Medium-High Density, and it allows no mobile home of any kind.
If the parcel is in one of these nine, a rezoning is the only path, and a rezoning is not a permission to assume before money moves.
Two large-lot districts are worse than they look in a different way: in RA, minimum lot 30,000 square feet, and in R-20 a single-section home is a special use rather than a by-right use.
A special use permit for a single-family dwelling, mobile homes included, skips the Planning Board preliminary forum and goes to the Board of Commissioners hearing and decision. It is a public hearing, on the county's calendar, with a decision that is not staff-level.

Adverse finding

Twenty-four by forty. The size of the home decides which row of the table you are in.

The ordinance's definition section draws the line by measurement, not by marketing: 'MOBILE HOME, DOUBLEWIDE - A mobile home designed to be joined into one integral unit that measures at least 24 feet by 40 feet.' A multi-section home smaller than that is not a doublewide here. It falls to the Mobile Home row, and in RA and R-20 that turns a by-right answer into a Board of Commissioners hearing, and in PD it removes the answer entirely.

A 24 by 40 home is 960 square feet. Smaller multi-section homes are sold routinely, and a dealer's word 'double-wide' is not the ordinance's definition.
Get the length and width of the specific home, in writing, before you rely on any district answer on this page.
The general manufactured home definition is separate and wider - transportable, eight body feet or more wide, 40 body feet or more long, or 320 or more square feet when erected on site, built on a permanent chassis.
The ordinance says its own definitions do not carry into the flood chapter: 'This definition does not apply to the provisions of Article 9: Flood Damage Prevention for "manufactured home"; for that meaning, see Section 9.5: Definitions.' Two definitions, two chapters, and a parcel in a flood zone is read under the second.
Section 4.3.2 adds what a doublewide must be, whatever its size: 'All doublewide mobile home structures shall have a gabled roof and be permanently affixed to a continuous permanent masonry foundation unpierced except for required ventilation and access,' and 'Wheels, axles, transportation lights, and towing apparatus must be removed.'

Adverse finding

In the Coastal High Hazard Area the ordinance permits no new manufactured home.

This is a coastal county, and Section 9.8.6 of the ordinance covers the Coastal High Hazard Area, which the flood chapter identifies as the VE zone. Subsection K is one sentence and it is a refusal: 'No manufactured homes shall be permitted except in an existing manufactured home park or subdivision. A replacement manufactured home may be placed on a lot in an existing manufactured home park or subdivision, provided the anchoring and elevation standards of this section have been satisfied.' A parcel can sit in a district that allows a doublewide by right and still be closed to one by this section.

Zoning and flood are two separate answers here, and the flood answer can override the zoning answer. Ask for both before you buy.
Recreational vehicles may be permitted in Coastal High Hazard Areas under Section 9.8.2.G.1. Manufactured homes may not. The ordinance treats them differently in the same place.
Outside the VE zone, in a Special Flood Hazard Area: 'New and replacement manufactured homes shall be elevated so that the reference level of the manufactured home is no lower than the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation,' and they 'shall be securely anchored to an adequately anchored foundation.'
The anchoring standard the ordinance names is the State of North Carolina Regulations for Manufactured Homes adopted by the Commissioner of Insurance.
No mobile home park space may be located in the 100-year floodplain - Section 4.3.2's own general standard, separate from the flood chapter.
This page does not state which parcels are in a VE zone. That is a FEMA map question for the parcel, and it is the first question to ask on any coastal lot.

Whose rules apply

The ordinance covers the unincorporated county. Four towns write their own.

Section 1.4.1 sets the boundary: 'The regulations set forth in this Ordinance shall be applicable within the planning jurisdiction of unincorporated New Hanover County, unless land or development is expressly exempted by a specific section or subsection of this Ordinance.' Section 3.1.2.A repeats it from the other side - 'portions of unincorporated New Hanover County are hereby divided into the zoning districts identified in Table 3.1.2.A.' Inside Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach or Kure Beach, a different ordinance decides and this page does not apply.

New Hanover is a small county with a large city in it, so the share of land under municipal rather than county zoning is high. Establish which jurisdiction the parcel is in before anything else.
This page did not read any of the four municipal ordinances, and none of them is summarised here.
A Water Supply Watershed district sits on top of the underlying district and wins where they conflict: the WSW regulations 'apply to the development of all land within the district, in addition to the regulations of the general use district' and 'shall control' in a conflict.
The WSW section exempts 'the location of two or fewer mobile homes on a parcel or lot of record where permitted by the underlying zoning' - note the closing clause. The exemption does not create a permission the district does not give.
Private restrictive covenants are a further layer no county answer covers. Read the deed.

Space around the home

What the district costs you in land, before the home arrives.

Each district sets its own dimensional standards, and the numbers below are for a single-family detached use, which is how a single manufactured home on its own lot is measured. Every residential district here caps building height at 40 feet, and the ordinance allows 44 feet for a structure elevated on piers, posts, columns or piles - which is the coastal case, and the case a manufactured home in a flood zone is likely to be.

RA, Rural Agricultural: 30,000 square feet minimum lot, 115 feet minimum width, 40-foot front setback, 30-foot street side, 20-foot interior side, 30-foot rear, maximum density one dwelling per acre.
AR, Airport Residential: 43,560 square feet - a full acre - 100 feet minimum width, 25-foot front, 30-foot street side, 20-foot interior side, 30-foot rear.
R-20: 20,000 square feet, 90 feet wide, 30-foot front, 22.5-foot street side, 15-foot interior side, 25-foot rear, 1.9 dwellings per acre.
R-15: 15,000 square feet, 80 feet wide, 25-foot front, 15-foot street side, 10-foot interior side, 20-foot rear, 2.5 dwellings per acre.
R-10: 10,000 square feet, 70 feet wide, 3.3 dwellings per acre.
R-7: 7,000 square feet, 50 feet wide, 25-foot front, 12.5-foot street side, 8-foot interior side, 20-foot rear, 6 dwellings per acre.
R-20S, for comparison, is 20,000 square feet with a 30-foot front setback - and no mobile home row.
The AR district is what it sounds like: established 'for the purpose of limiting the development of land within the vicinity of Wilmington International Airport to low density residential development.' It is the district that gives a single-section home a by-right answer on an acre, and Section 5.10's airport height restriction applies there.

In a park

A park is three spaces, and the ordinance writes out every dimension of one.

Section 4.3.2 sets out the park standards in full, and they matter to anyone buying land with more than one home in mind as much as to a park operator. A mobile home park is a special use in RA, R-15, R-10 and R-7, and permitted by right only in PD.

'Every mobile home park shall contain at least three mobile home spaces.'
Density may not exceed 2.5 units per acre outside areas designated Employment Center, Urban Mixed Use or Community Mixed Use in the county's Comprehensive Plan.
A space using an individual septic tank is sized by the New Hanover County Health Department after investigating soil conditions, but 'in no case shall the size of a mobile home space be less than 5,000 square feet, and 6,000 square feet for multi-section units.'
Each space is at least 40 feet wide, with at least 20 feet of clearance between homes, including end to end.
'No mobile home shall be located closer than 75 feet to any residentially zoned property not occupied by a mobile home park.'
Homes are set back at least 29 feet from the centre line of the roadway, and parking is off-street at a ratio of 2:1, set back at least ten feet from the roadway surface.
Roads serving more than 25 spaces are paved to county specifications, and every space must abut an improved interior road.
A fire hydrant at the entrance for any park of three or more spaces on public water, and further hydrant requirements at ten or more.
Each space is improved to provide an adequate foundation, and every home is anchored in accordance with the North Carolina Uniform Standard Code for Mobile Homes.
'Occupancy of a mobile home space may not begin until all improvements have been completed,' and travel trailers are not permitted in a mobile home park.

An existing home

You can replace a nonconforming single-wide with a doublewide. You can also lose the right.

If there is already a mobile home on the parcel and the district would not allow one today, the nonconforming rules decide what you may do. They are more generous than most, and they have one hard edge.

Section 11.4.8: a structure used for single family residential purposes and maintained as a nonconforming use 'may be enlarged or replaced with a similar structure of a larger size' so long as it creates no new nonconformities. 'In particular, a mobile home may be replaced with a larger mobile home, and a "single-wide" mobile home may be replaced with a "double-wide".'
Section 11.4.9: a nonconforming structure destroyed in whole or in part may be rebuilt if a letter of intent reaches the Planning Director within six months and a building permit is obtained within one year.
The hard edge is Section 11.6. Where a nonconforming mobile home sits on a residential lot alongside a conforming residential structure, 'removal of that mobile home for 180 days terminates the right to replace it.'
Failing to rent one space in a nonconforming mobile home park for 180 days does not lose that space, as long as the park as a whole is continuously maintained. The single-home case is the one that expires.
Section 4.3's accessory dwelling rules close a door people assume is open: 'Mobile homes, RVs, and manufactured homes shall not be permitted as accessory dwelling units.' A second home for a relative is not an accessory dwelling unit route here.

What is not written here

Not found is not a yes.

Each item below was looked for in the three New Hanover County sources named on this page and was not settled there. A gap is a question for the county, not a permission.

No age cutoff or model-year rule for a manufactured home was found in the UDO. The ordinance defines manufactured homes built before June 15, 1976 separately but this page found no district rule keyed to that date.
No appearance or siding standard for a single-section mobile home was found. The gabled roof, masonry foundation and towing-apparatus rules in Section 4.3.2 are written for the doublewide row.
No permit fee, review time or inspection sequence is stated here. The county's fee schedule was not read for this page.
The order of permits - whether a zoning approval precedes an Environmental Health septic permit here - was not settled from these sources. Ask the county directly.
No Health Department septic rule is stated here beyond the park space-size provision, and no well rule at all.
The FEMA flood maps for the county were not read, so no parcel is described here as in or out of a VE zone or a Special Flood Hazard Area.
The Water Supply Watershed district maps, which the ordinance says are the official source for the district boundaries and are held at the Planning and Land Use Department, were not read.
The ordinances of Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach and Kure Beach were not read for this page.
The RFMU and EDZD districts are excluded from Table 4.2.1 and their mobile home permissions were not traced through Article 3 for this page.

Local Prerequisites To Verify

Environmental health, utilities, zoning, and access may shape the sequence.

Septic approval or existing-system review

County sources often require septic approval, construction authorization, or existing-system authorization before or alongside manufactured-home permitting.

Septic

Well or water availability

County sources may require well, public water, or water-sewer tap documentation before a permit can move forward.

Well Plumbing

Water/sewer availability

Some county sources ask for sewer approval, tap receipts, or public water documentation when applicable.

Plumbing Septic Well

Utility service availability

Some county sources connect power release or final readiness to completed trade inspections or utility-provider steps.

Electrical HVAC Propane / Gas

Zoning or land-use review

County sources may require zoning, municipal zoning, watershed, floodplain, or land-use review before manufactured-home placement.

Engineering

Driveway or access

Driveway, access, or delivery-route questions belong in the library only where county or source-backed process notes make them relevant.

Driveway Improvement Grading and Site Preparation Transport and Setup

Inspection-Related Scopes

Limited to source-backed manufactured-home scopes.

Grading and Site Preparation

Use only where source-backed county or state guidance ties grading to pad, drainage, foundation readiness, access, footers, or setup readiness.

Several county sources reference site grading, drainage, footings, setup readiness, or documents needed before power or final signoff.

Transport and Setup

Core manufactured-home installation scope for delivery, setup, pier/blocking, anchoring, tie-downs, setup contractor information, and inspection readiness.

The NC Installation Manual is the primary statewide installation source; county manufactured-home process pages may add local setup contractor, permit, and inspection steps.

Electrical

Electrical service, site-installed electrical work, utility handoffs, and inspection readiness when source-backed.

County sources commonly separate electrical permits or inspections for mobile/manufactured-home setup.

Plumbing

Plumbing connections, water and waste lines, pressure or water tests, and final readiness where source-backed.

County sources commonly separate plumbing permits or inspections for mobile/manufactured-home setup.

HVAC

Mechanical systems, heat pump or air-conditioning work, ducting, and final readiness where source-backed.

County sources commonly reference mechanical permits or inspections for mobile/manufactured-home setup.

Propane / Gas

Use only when official guidance mentions gas service, gas appliance connections, LP systems, fuel-gas inspection, pressure testing, shutoffs, or installation-manual requirements.

Onslow County explicitly groups gas fuel work with prescriptive code and NC manufactured-home regulations for manufactured-home permits.

Decks / Stairs / Landings / Handicap Ramps

Egress, steps, landings, handrails, ramps, deck thresholds, and final access readiness where source-backed.

County manufactured-home guides may reference stoops, steps, landings, handrails, and deck-size thresholds.

Masonry / Block / Foundation

Footings, piers, blocking, masonry skirting/foundation presentation, soil bearing, anchorage, and foundation readiness where source-backed.

County sources reference footings, piers, blocking, anchorage, soil bearing, tie-downs, or foundation-related items in inspection processes.

Vinyl Skirting

Skirting or underpinning only where source-backed guidance connects it to inspection timing, access, ventilation, appearance, or placement requirements.

County manufactured-home inspection documents may reference skirting timing, access panels, or underpinning requirements.

Trim-Out / Carpentry

Use only where official guidance touches final trim-out, marriage line completion, close-up, access panels, finish details, weatherproofing, or readiness for final inspection.

Onslow County references marriage wall inspection for multi-wide homes and close-up type items within manufactured-home setup inspections.

Questions To Ask The County

Bring better questions to the right local office.

Is this parcel in the unincorporated county, or inside Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach or Kure Beach?

What zoning district is the parcel in, and does Table 4.2.1 allow a doublewide, a single-wide, both or neither there?

Does the home I am buying measure at least 24 feet by 40 feet, so it is a doublewide under this ordinance?

If the district is RA or R-20 and the home is a single-section, what does a Board of Commissioners special use permit take here, and how long?

Is any part of the parcel in a Coastal High Hazard Area or VE flood zone, where no new manufactured home is permitted?

Is any part of the parcel in a Special Flood Hazard Area, and what Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation applies?

Is the parcel in a Water Supply Watershed district, whose rules control over the underlying district?

Is there already a dwelling on this parcel, and would a second home be an accessory dwelling unit the ordinance closes to mobile homes?

Was this parcel of record created before December 1, 1984, and does that change which standards apply?

What does the county's zoning or building permit cost for a manufactured home here, and what is the review time?

Dealer Quote Responsibility Questions

Ask who owns each step before the project depends on it.

What are the exact length and width of this home, and does it measure at least 24 feet by 40 feet?

What zoning district is the parcel in, and will you put the district and the home's classification in the contract?

Is the continuous, unpierced permanent masonry foundation the ordinance requires in this price?

Does this home have a gabled roof, as Section 4.3.2 requires of a doublewide?

Is removal of the wheels, axles, transportation lights and towing apparatus in this price?

If the parcel is in a flood zone, is elevating the home to the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation in this quote, and who certifies it?

If the district needs a special use permit, who files it, who attends the Board of Commissioners hearing, and who carries the cost if it is refused?

Who is responsible if the county refuses the home on this parcel after I have signed?

What To Gather

Better details make county and provider questions clearer.

Whether the parcel is in the unincorporated county or inside one of the four municipalities

The parcel identification number and its zoning district from the county's own records

The home's exact length and width, section count, year and HUD label status, in writing

Whether any part of the parcel is in a VE zone, a Special Flood Hazard Area or a Water Supply Watershed district

Whether the parcel of record was created before December 1, 1984

Which utilities are present: public water or well, public sewer or septic, and the electric provider

Whether any dwelling already stands on the parcel, and whether it is nonconforming

The deed and any restrictive covenants recorded against the parcel

Related provider types

Transport and Setup Septic Well Electrical Plumbing HVAC Grading and Site Preparation Masonry / Block / Foundation Driveway Improvement

Related project stages

Purchasing or Acquiring Land Permits, Septic, and Utilities Preparing Your Land Setup and Installation After Installation / Move-In

Source notes

Every quotation on this page was read cold on 2026-09-20 from New Hanover County's own Unified Development Ordinance, a 515-page PDF the county generated on 2026-09-16 and serves from its own Laserfiche portal, reached from the county's Applications and Ordinances page.

The ordinance states its own effective date in Section 1.7.1: 'This Ordinance was adopted on February 3, 2020 and became effective on February 3, 2020.' Individual provisions carry bracketed amendment dates, the latest of which affecting mobile homes is the October 6, 2025 amendment to the mobile home park standards.

The district counts come from Table 4.2.1 on ordinance page 4-4, read two independent ways: from the rendered page, and from the extracted text with every P, S and CZD mark matched to the district column whose centre it sits under. Every mark resolved to its column within 0.2 points, and both readings give the doublewide row seven marks, the single-section row eight, and the single-family detached row eighteen.

The reader used for the second reading was checked against an accept case before its answer was used: the Dwelling, Single-Family Detached row, whose marks are legible in the plain text, came back with all sixteen by-right districts and both special use districts resolved.

The mobile home definitions, including the 24-by-40-foot doublewide definition, are Article 2, ordinance page 2-24. The use-specific standards for the doublewide, the single-section home in the industrial districts and the mobile home park are Section 4.3.2, pages 4-25 to 4-29.

The dimensional standards are each district's own subsection D: Section 3.2.4 for RA, 3.2.5 for AR, 3.2.6 for R-20S, 3.2.7 for R-20, 3.2.8 for R-15, 3.2.9 for R-10 and 3.2.10 for R-7. The figures quoted are the single-family detached column.

The Coastal High Hazard Area provision is Section 9.8.6.K; the general flood elevation and anchoring requirements are Section 9.8.2.C. The jurisdiction statements are Sections 1.4.1 and 3.1.2.A, the accessory dwelling prohibition is in Section 4.3, the nonconforming rules are Sections 11.4.8, 11.4.9 and 11.6, and the note that a mobile home special use permit skips the Planning Board forum is in Section 10.3.5.

No written answer from New Hanover County Planning and Land Use, the Building Safety Department or the Health Department is on file for this page, and no staff confirmation is claimed. No staff names appear here, and no project approval, inspection result or utility-release outcome is implied.

Helpful Next Steps

Move from New Hanover County questions into the right My Manufactured Home Guide path.

Use these pages to organize the next question by stage, responsibility, utility path, setup readiness, or private project summary. They do not replace county, utility, AHJ, or professional confirmation.

How to check zoning for a manufactured home

In New Hanover County one table answers it, and the district decides before anything else does.

Do I need a permit for a mobile home in North Carolina?

The statewide permit question, before New Hanover's special use permit and flood requirements.

Manufactured-home site plan checklist

What to have drawn before you file anything with New Hanover County Planning and Land Use.

Source Hierarchy

State installation guidance first, then local process.

The NC Installation Manual sets how a home is installed statewide. New Hanover County's own offices set the permit steps, zoning, septic and inspections.

NC installation guidance

primary statewide installation source

Primary statewide installation source: NC Installation Manual

Primary statewide installation source for North Carolina manufactured-home installation requirements, published as the State of North Carolina Regulations for Manufactured Homes.

state program authority

State program authority: NC OSFM Manufactured Homes

Official state manufactured-homes program landing page and document hub; use the NC Installation Manual for installation-specific requirement details.

state program authority

State program authority: NC OSFM Manufactured Building

Official NC OSFM manufactured building division page for manufactured and modular housing resources.

local process source

New Hanover County local process sources

County and local AHJ sources explain local process layers; they do not replace statewide installation guidance or project-specific authority.

County Links and Source Notes

Official source links reviewed for this page.

We organize New Hanover County's own sources. Rules change — confirm them with the county before you rely on them.

local process source

Local ordinance source: New Hanover County Unified Development Ordinance, adopted February 3, 2020, amendments through October 6, 2025 (PDF)

The county's own UDO, reached from its Applications and Ordinances page and served from the county's Laserfiche portal. Table 4.2.1, the Principal Use Table, is ordinance page 4-4; the mobile home definitions are Article 2, page 2-24; the use-specific standards are Section 4.3.2, pages 4-25 to 4-29; the district dimensional standards are Sections 3.2.4 to 3.2.10; the Coastal High Hazard Area rules are Section 9.8.6; the nonconforming rules are Sections 11.4 and 11.6; the special use permit steps are Section 10.3.5. Read cold on 2026-09-20 from a 515-page file the county generated on 2026-09-16.

Responsible authority / official host: laserfiche.nhcgov.com
Purpose and coverage: local process source
Last verified: 2026-09-20
Link health: Verified when reviewed; reconfirm the current page or form before relying on it.
Fallback status: Direct local-process starting point

local process source

Local process source: New Hanover County Applications & Ordinances

The county page that links the Unified Development Ordinance and the application forms for zoning and development approvals. Read on 2026-09-20.

Responsible authority / official host: nhcgov.com
Purpose and coverage: local process source
Last verified: 2026-09-20
Link health: Verified when reviewed; reconfirm the current page or form before relying on it.
Fallback status: Direct local-process starting point

local process source

Local process source: New Hanover County Planning & Land Use

The department that administers the UDO in the unincorporated county, and the page the ordinance link sits behind. Read on 2026-09-20.

Responsible authority / official host: nhcgov.com
Purpose and coverage: local process source
Last verified: 2026-09-20
Link health: Verified when reviewed; reconfirm the current page or form before relying on it.
Fallback status: Direct local-process starting point

Manufactured Home Land Check

Will this New Hanover County land take a manufactured home? Find out before you commit to buying the land, or the home.

Buying land, already own it, or selling it — one report on what the county and the land will allow.

Check this land