Austin enacts sweeping reforms to cut down housing costs
City leaders and advocates hope reducing the size of lots used to build homes will increase housing supply. Full Story
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![An attendee listens and takes notes as people testify during an Austin city council meeting on Thursday, May 16, 2024 in Austin. Attendees spent hours at Austin City Hall as the council went through numerous testimonies.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Push to enforce occupancy rule in College Station highlights Texas A&M students’ housing woes
The new fines underscore the challenges college students face when looking for affordable housing — and how cities struggle to provide it. Full Story
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![Ethan Tan, center right, and his roommates stand for a portrait on their front porch in College Station, Texas on Wednesday, April 23, 2024.]()
Credit: Ishika Samant for The Texas Tribune -
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Harris County to block program that would give cash to poorest households
The program would give roughly 1,900 households payments of $500 for 18 months with no strings attached. Paxton called it “plainly unconstitutional.” Full Story
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![The Houston skyline in November, 2017.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Republicans’ budding interest in Texas’ housing crisis could create strange political bedfellows
Republican lawmakers may try to force Texas cities to allow greater housing density as the state faces a housing crunch. Full Story
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![An Aerial image of a suburban neighborhood in San Marcos on October 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Why some Texas cities are getting rid of their minimum parking rules
Most cities require homes and businesses to have parking. Critics say they drive up housing costs, foster car dependency and raise carbon emissions. Full Story
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![An apartment parking lot in East Austin on Saturday, March 16, 2024.]()
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Gov. Greg Abbott wants the Texas Legislature to rein in investors behind large-scale home purchases
So-called institutional homebuyers noticeably ramped up home purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. But housing experts point out investors have retreated amid high interest rates. Full Story
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![A construction worker, who declined to give their name, rolls up hosing as they work on building a home at a new housing development Saturday, March 12, 2022 in Odessa, Texas.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
An East Texas town has put strict limits on mobile homes — again
The Huntington City Council has flip flopped twice on a mobile home ordinance since 2020. Full Story
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![Rita Kromer, a longtime resident of Huntington, Texas, lives in a mobile home after losing her traditional brick house in a fire.]()
Credit: Joel Andrews for The Texas Tribune -
Rural housing programs serve Texas’ elderly and disabled. This federal bill could make the process easier.
Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett introduced House Bill 7412 to fix administrative issues that have created hurdles for some in rural communities. Full Story
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![Homes under construction in a future neighborhood Wednesday, April. 26, 2023, near Wolfforth in Lubbock County.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Amid high rents, eviction filings in major Texas cities soar above pre-pandemic levels
Legal aid groups and housing advocates say there simply aren’t enough lawyers to keep up with the sheer volume of eviction filings. Full Story
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![A writ of possession is taped to the door of an apartment at the Life at Jackson Square apartments on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in Houston, TX.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Texans face a bigger burden than ever to pay rent, study finds
More than half of the state’s 4.2 million renters spend at least 30% of their income on rent and utilities, according to a Harvard University report. Full Story
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![The Mueller neighborhood in East Austin on Oct. 7, 2023.]()
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Homelessness in Texas on the rise amid high housing costs, federal estimates show
Homelessness rose last year across nearly every demographic group, but strides were made to connect people with new housing. Full Story
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![The sun sets over the tops of tents at a homeless encampment on state-owned land in Austin on Jan. 18, 2021.]()
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Six years after Hurricane Harvey, the city of Houston still hasn’t allocated $200 million in relief funds
Both the state and the city of Houston say they want to work together to help pay down the remaining funds. Full Story
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![Workers sort through piles of flooded belongings at an apartment complex near Greens Bayou in the Greenspoint area of Houston on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, days after Tropical Storm Harvey dissipated.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Has a big village of tiny homes eased homelessness in Austin?
One of the nation’s largest experiments to address chronic homelessness is taking shape outside the city limits. Full Story
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![Residents playing bingo at Community First! Village, which aspires to be a model of permanent affordable housing for people who are chronically homeless.]()
Credit: Eli Durst for The New York Times -
Austin will now allow more homes to be built on single-family lots
City officials hope that allowing up to three units per lot will increase supply and slow the explosive increase in housing costs. The measure was approved by Austin City Council in a 9-2 vote late Thursday night. Full Story
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![The Mueller neighborhood in East Austin on Oct. 7, 2023.]()
Credit: John Jordan/The Texas Tribune -
More than 765,000 older Texans are struggling to cover housing costs
A new Harvard University study found an increase in the number of Texas households headed by people 65 or older spending more than 30% of their income on housing. Advocates say keeping older adults housed will require substantial public investment and reforms. Full Story
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![Seniors gather to eat and dance at the Ledbetter Eagle Ford Community Organization’s senior program held at the Jaycee-Zaragoza Recreation Center located in West Dallas on Nov. 4, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
As Texans struggle with housing costs, cities look for new ways to spur more home construction
In cities dominated by single-family neighborhoods, local leaders across Texas want a broader variety of housing to combat the affordability crisis. Full Story
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![Homes under construction in the Mueller neighborhood in East Austin on Oct. 7, 2023.]()
Credit: John Jordan/The Texas Tribune -
Printing a place to live: In Central Texas, homes are being built with emerging 3D technology
Using robotic 3D printers that can build the concrete walls of a house, a pair of Texas startups say the technology could help alleviate two crises: the housing shortage and climate change. Full Story
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![Rows of 3D-printed homes sit in various states of construction in the Wolf Ranch neighborhood of Georgetown, Texas on Oct. 4, 2023. The Lennar Wolf Ranch development is the largest collection of 3D-printed homes worldwide.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
Colony Ridge developer defends Houston-area community as state leaders vow action against it
GOP leaders claim the development markets to undocumented people and is plagued by crime. One of its owners refutes the allegations and says he’s ready to show lawmakers that Colony Ridge isn’t different than any other rural Texas community. Full Story
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![The Terrenos Houston building Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, in New Caney. Terrenos Houston is one of the major developers in the Colony Ridge area.]()
Credit: Joe Robles IV for The Texas Tribune -
Austin will try again to tame its housing affordability crisis with zoning reforms. Can it do it this time?
The city’s decades-long battle to overhaul local rules to allow more, denser housing to be built may be reaching a turning point. Full Story
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![Protesters hold signs and gather at the Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility in support of affordable housing on Aug. 28, 2023.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
How federal dollars might help El Paso stem its affordable housing crisis
Housing costs have soared in the Texas city in recent years, while the state cuts back on funding. Full Story
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![Downtown in El Paso, on Oct. 30, 2020.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune
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