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Stories by Audrey McGlinchy, KUT

Austin requires all homes to have working air conditioning

Ahead of Austin’s scorching summer months, City Council members adopted a property maintenance code Thursday that requires all homes in the city to have functioning air conditioning. The new rule does not require property owners to have central air conditioning. But…

City Council • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Apr 11, 2025

Austin churches answer prayers for affordable housing – by building it themselves

Standing at a pulpit on a Sunday morning in March, the Rev. Daryl Horton of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in East Austin prayed for a swift approval of building permits. An ask that, as anyone familiar with municipal bureaucracy knows,…

Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Mar 27, 2025

As wildfire anxiety grows, Austin plans to designate half the city as at risk of fire damage

Austin plans to greatly expand the amount of land, and therefore homes, considered at risk of wildfire damage. City Council members are scheduled to discuss updating rules surrounding Austin’s WUI, or Wildland-Urban Interface, later this month. This is the area…

Fire • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Mar 14, 2025

U.S. accuses six landlords of rent price fixing. See which apartments they own in Austin.

Lee esta historia en español Tens of thousands of renters in the Austin area may have had their rents set by landlords accused of using software to illegally fix prices, according to a Department of Justice lawsuit and an analysis…

Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jan 21, 2025

Austin went on a land-buying spree in 2020. So far, little has been built on it.

Lee esta historia en español As Austin was coordinating Covid-19 test centers and trying to secure personal protective equipment at the start of the pandemic, it was also buying land. Lots of it. Thirteen acres by July 2020. Another 3…

Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Dec 18, 2024

After a decline last year, Travis County homeowners should expect a return to rising property taxes

Lee esta historia en español As Austin-area homeowners receive their latest property tax bills this winter, they should expect to see an increase. According to an analysis by the Travis County Tax Office, the average property tax bill this year…

Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Dec 11, 2024

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Watson is ahead in election for Austin mayor, but it's unclear if he'll avoid a runoff

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson is ahead in the city’s mayoral race with just over 50% of the vote, according to unofficial voting totals. It appears the incumbent might be able to eke out an outright win over his four opponents…

Elections • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Nov 6, 2024

Austin reopens applications for people who need help paying rent

Lee esta historia en español  Low-income renters struggling to afford their monthly rent can now apply to get help from the city. Austin has about $3.6 million to dole out, after City Council members approved a new budget earlier this year.…

Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Nov 4, 2024

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Youth homelessness has increased rapidly in Austin, according to nonprofit data

The number of young people experiencing homelessness in Travis County, which includes most of Austin, has risen substantially in the past four years, according to numbers from a nonprofit that tracks the issue. Since 2020, the number of people under…

Austin • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Oct 18, 2024

As rents across the country go up, Austin prices continue to fall

During the pandemic, Austin came to exemplify the story of housing across the country: Prices went through the roof. In 2021, the average monthly rent in the region rose 25 percent. Similar increases happened in cities in California and Arizona.…

Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Sep 11, 2024

Builders can now construct homes on less land, as Austin’s new minimum lot size goes into effect

A controversial rule that lowers the amount of land needed to build one house in Austin goes into effect Friday. Landowners wanting to build a home in some city neighborhoods will now need 1,800 square feet of land, about two-thirds…

Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Aug 16, 2024

Rents in Austin are down. But many renters still struggle to find housing they can afford.

When the rent payment on Leigh Vladyka’s Austin apartment comes out of his bank account, he tries to avoid looking. Each month, almost half of his take-home pay goes to rent. Nearly $1,600 gone from the $3,400 deposited. And there…

Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Aug 6, 2024

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