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. But that narrative has flipped. As tens of thousands of new apartments have opened in […]
Audrey McGlinchy, KUT
Posted inHousing
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 less than the old requirement. City Council members voted on this change, coined HOME Phase […]
Posted inHousing
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 are still utility bills to pay, credit card debt to stress over, and food and […]
Posted inHousing
Austin has a high rate of segregation between homeowners and renters, study finds
Renters and homeowners in the Austin metro live more sequestered from each other than in other U.S. cities, according to a study from Harvard University released last week. The Austin area has one of the highest levels of renter and homeowner segregation, researchers with Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found after analyzing U.S. Census Bureau […]
Posted inCity Council
Austin approves additional property tax breaks for seniors and people with disabilities
City Council voted Thursday to raise the property tax exemption for homeowners who are 65 years and older and those with a disability. The move is an attempt to further curtail the amount of money residents pay taxes on. Homeowners who qualify can keep $154,000 off the value of their home that gets taxed by […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Austin cuts minimum lot size by more than half, requiring less land to build a home
More homes, less lawn. This was the pitch made by Austin City Council members Friday when, for the first time in 80 years, they voted to lower the amount of land needed to build one house. The change allows property owners to build a home on as little as 1,800 square feet of land. This […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Austin will vote on rules that impact housing. Here’s what’s on the table.
This explainer was originally published April 10. It has been updated ahead of City Council’s vote. How do you retrofit a city that never planned for a population of nearly 1 million or for an extensive public transit system? Should you? These are the questions facing City Council members as they prepare to vote today on […]
Posted inElections
Democrat-backed candidates sweep first Travis County appraisal election
Three candidates backed by the local Democratic Party won seats to the Travis Central Appraisal District’s board of directors, who help manage property appraisals. Jett Hanna, Shenghao “Daniel” Wang and Dick Lavine soundly defeated three others backed by the local Republican Party on Saturday, including Matt Mackowiak, chair of the party in Travis County, and Don […]
Posted inHousing
Austin outlaws the construction of windowless bedrooms
Developers in Austin will have to provide some form of natural light in bedrooms after City Council members voted Thursday to amend the city’s building code. For the most part, Austin will accomplish this change by simply replacing one word in the International Building Code that many cities adopt. The rules, which dictate safety standards […]
Posted inAustin
For the first time in 20 years, more people are leaving Travis County than moving in
Lee esta historia en español Between July 2022 and July 2023, roughly 2,500 more people moved out of Travis County than moved in. This figure, which comes out of population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week, marks a reversal in population trends over the last two decades. “I haven’t seen negative net […]
Posted inHousing
Austin apartments boomed and rents went down. Now, some builders are dismantling the cranes.
Ben Schwertner won’t pay next month’s rent. The 28-year-old from Lubbock isn’t forgoing payment out of protest or because he can’t afford it. He’s not paying because he doesn’t have to. When Schwertner signed a lease for a one-bedroom apartment near the Austin airport earlier this year, the management company extended him a sweet deal: […]
Posted inCourts
Groups sue Austin officials over plan to redevelop dairy plant site
Advocacy groups and a neighborhood association are suing city of Austin officials over what they allege is a plan illegally approved by City Council members to turn a dairy plant into more than a thousand new homes, offices and a hotel. At issue is roughly 21 acres of land along the Colorado River in East […]