Texas Senate Committee Approves Bills Aimed at Easing Housing Crisis

The Texas Senate Local Government Committee approved bills aimed at combating the rising cost of housing. With the price of housing continuing to increase, both Governor Greg Abbot (R) and state Comptroller Glenn Hegar have expressed concern, while Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has made housing one of his legislative priorities, introducing Senate Bill 15.

Between 2019 and 2023, the median home price in Texas went up 40 percent, and the housing shortage reached 306,000 units by 2021. Senator Paul Bettencourt (R), who chairs the committee, highlighted a troubling statistic: the average age of a homebuyer in the U.S. is now 54.

“It wasn’t too long ago that many of us were buying homes in their 30s,” Bettencourt said. “The fact that we have a 54-year-old average buyer in the country is approaching a crisis point.”

SB 15 seeks to address this issue by relaxing local zoning restrictions to allow for increased development. The bill would prevent cities from requiring minimum lot sizes smaller than 1,400 square feet and would limit density to no less than 31.1 units per acre. These changes would only apply to plots of land over 5 acres that are not yet mapped or platted, with provisions aimed at preserving the character of existing neighborhoods.

Bettencourt explained, “These provisions are intended to ensure that characteristics of existing neighborhoods are not heavily impacted.”

SB 15 follows the success of similar reforms made in Austin. As of February, the median home price was $564,00, down from a high of 677,000 in May 2022. Sen. Bettencourt noted that SB 15 is part of a broader effort to address housing.

“This is not one single shot that is going to fix this problem.” Said Bettencourt. “We’re looking at solutions across the board to solve this problem.”

Another solution being looked at is SB 854, by Senator Mayes Middleton (R), which would help religious organizations develop multi-family housing on vacant land by limiting cities’ ability to require specific zoning or land-use rules on these tracts.

“Many of these faith-based organizations feel called to serve their communities by providing this housing,” explained Middleton.

The Texas Senate committee approved SB 15 and SB 854, sending them to the full Senate for consideration.