ABSTRACT Variable housing is to solve the problems existing in industrialized large-scale housing construction appeared, with open, sustainable and other characteristics, for the sustainable development of housing has greater significance. Using CiteSpace software for visualization and analysis, this paper examines 268 pieces of literature from the last 30 years, reviewing the research status and development lineage. The results show that (1) China’s scholars research on variable housing focuses on the transformative learning of foreign theories and practices and local practices. The evolution of the research ontology follows the development line from theory to technology to practice, and policy also plays a guiding role in it. (2) The types of research on variable housing are gradually diversified, and a more complete system of “design, parts and construction” has been formed. (3) Currently, the popularization rate of variable housing is low due to the problems of crowd awareness and economy. Therefore, the focus of future research should be on strengthening the policy promotion of variable housing and integrating the research and development of component technology. This study provides a systematic review and discussion of variable housing research, aiming to propose possible future research priorities and application directions.