07-05-2025
Texas House approves bill to help increase state's housing supply
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Texas House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that will make it harder for homeowners to block projects to build new homes near their neighborhood.
House Bill 24 — introduced by State Rep. Angelia Orr, R – Angelina — will weaken a 100-year-old law to help increase the amount of high-density housing, a Republican initiative to address skyrocketing house prices in Texas.
Since the 2020 pandemic, housing prices in Texas have gone up about 40% across the state, said Emily Brizzolara-Dove, policy advisor for Texas 2036, which is a nonpartisan public policy research group.
Brizzolara-Dove attributes some of the pricing issues with a lack of housing supply. 'We've got a big mismatch in supply and demand,' Brizzolara-Dove said. 'So, efforts to reform land use — to infuse neighborhoods with more housing, more diverse housing — are going to be critical to Texas' success going forward.'
Local governments can change the zoning code for residential areas to allow for multi-family housing, like duplexes or apartment complexes. The city of Austin instituted major land code changes in 2024 to allow for up to three housing units on a property zoned for single-family use.
However, under current law Texas property owners have been able to block zoning changes that could create more housing. The law said if 20% of property owners within 200 feet of a proposed zoning change sign a petition it forces a governing body, like a city council, to approve that zoning change by a supermajority, instead of the standard simple majority.
'It is very, very good at killing housing and it is ripe for reform,' Brizzolara-Dove said.
HB 24 amends those petition requirements to 60% of the property owners within the 200 foot threshold, and even if that number of signatures is met, it allows a governing body to still be able to pass a zoning change with a simple majority.
For property owners whose property is within the zoning change proposal, the 20% petition and supermajority rules still apply. The bill passed 83-56 after many delays. The Texas Senate passed similar legislation – Senate Bill 844 – in April.
State Rep. John Bryant, D – Dallas, did raise concerns with Orr during floor debate this week. Bryant argues it will make it harder for property owners to block commercial and industrial developments from being built near their homes.
'A simple majority vote could take away the zoning that they relied on when they made their biggest investment in their home, and suddenly they have an industrial or commercial use right next door,' Bryant said.
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