Relaxed Density
Housing Workgroup Policy Recommendation
A Relaxed Density Ordinance to Encourage a Variety of Housing Development
January 2021
Overview
The Housing market in Houston has proven to be resilient through turbulent world events, natural disasters, and economic volatility. Houston has achieved a reputation as an affordable city with a low cost of living. When you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that while Houston’s housing cost is lower compared to cities like San Francisco and Washington, D.C. the amount of affordable housing stock available in Houston is woefully inadequate compared to the demand.
The City of Houston, Harris County, and partner agencies have various tools working to address the affordable housing shortfall to include a down payment assistance program, a Houston Land Bank, and a Community Land Trust. These are not the only programs available but are some of the most promoted. These programs and others do great work in helping families achieve the dream of homeownership, but more help is needed to close the affordable housing demand shortfall.
Policy Recommendation
Your Houston is calling on the City of Houston to revise the density ordinance to allow for the construction of more than 27 single-family units of housing on an acre of land. Currently, the local ordinance limits the number of single-family dwellings to 27 units per acre of land. By revising this ordinance to allow for more units per acre to be constructed you will incentivize the construction of smaller, more affordable housing units that Houstonians and families desire.
We advocate for this policy for several reasons. Houston needs housing stock that is reflective of a variety of needs, wants, and price points. Single adults, college students, couples with no kids all would benefit from a smaller than average home at an affordable price point. Not everyone wants to live in an apartment and not everyone can afford to live in a five or ten thousand square foot home. This policy will encourage the development of smaller, more affordable units in addition to the housing stock currently on the market today. According to The 5 Immutable Laws of Affordable Housing, “the cost of purchasing land is a significant portion of the total cost of a house…if your zoning code requires large lots, the houses that are built will be more expensive than if they could be built on smaller lots. That’s a mathematical face that should be intuitive but has escaped scrutiny in most community with affordability issues.” We’ve seen in other parts of the country how adopting a similar policy has encouraged the development of a variety of housing types.
Current Situation:
From the city of Houston code of municipal ordinances, we know the number of single-family residential dwelling units that can be constructed within the proposed subdivision plat does not exceed an equivalent density of 27 units to the gross acre of all land within the boundaries of the subdivision plat.
One acre is equal to 43,560 square feet of land. Divided by the maximum 27 single-family lots each lot will total 1,613 square feet on one acre of land.
With a more relaxed density ordinance you could see housing stock on smaller lots.
We know that Houston will add almost one million new residents by 2045. Houston’s inner city will become denser putting a greater strain on our current supply of housing stock. Houston will need to be prepared with several smaller, more affordable housing units to offer current and future residents a variety options. We’ve seen across housing markets that restricting development in low-density residential zones also increases the cost of housing by the same logic: if you can only build one housing unit on a lot, the cost of that land must be absorbed by that single unit. Allowing more units spreads the land costs over many households, lowering the total cost of development.