Texas suburbs resist new state law allowing more apartments
Suburban officials in the Dallas-Fort Worth region have enacted rules aimed at curtailing a sweeping new state law to allow more apartments. Full Story
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![A family walks through a neighborhood in Irving on Aug. 1, 2024.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves bill to protect Texans from real estate fraudsters
Senate Bill 15 seeks to prevent the use of fraudulent deeds to sell someone else’s property or take out loans. It now heads to the House, where its fate is uncertain. Full Story
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![A San Antonio neighborhood on Saturday, May 25, 2024.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Meet the Californian who pushed Texas lawmakers to help fix the state’s housing crisis
A bipartisan coalition, organized by Nicole Nosek, played a role in getting the Legislature to pass laws tackling the state’s housing affordability woes. Full Story
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![Nicole Nosek, chair of the housing advocacy group Texans for Reasonable Solutions, at the Texas in Austin on June 25, 2025. Nosek has spent the past four years advocating for laws to control Texas' rising housing costs.]()
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Wealthy families are buying homes to get in-state tuition at Texas universities
A niche but growing industry specializes in helping students buy Texas homes to save tens of thousands of dollars in tuition at public universities. Full Story
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![Texas allows out-of-state families to buy property to get in-state tuition.]()
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Texas lawmakers laid the foundation for a housing boom. Here’s how.
The Legislature passed laws allowing smaller homes on smaller lots and making it harder for neighbors to block new housing. Full Story
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![Houses in a North Austin neighborhood on Oct. 9, 2020.]()
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Texas lawmakers to allow smaller homes on smaller lots
State legislators passed an array of bills this year aimed at reining in the state’s high home prices and rents. Full Story
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![Homes under construction in the Mueller neighborhood in East Austin on Oct. 7, 2023.]()
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Texas bill allowing smaller homes on smaller lots amid housing affordability crunch advances in House
Senate Bill 15, a top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, is part of a broad push by lawmakers to put a dent in the state’s high home prices. Full Story
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![A construction worker builds homes in far west San Antonio on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.]()
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Bill to allow smaller homes on smaller lots resurrected in Texas House
A top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the legislation would make it easier to construct homes on smaller lots. A House Democrat briefly killed the bill. Full Story
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![A stretch of suburban homes line the landscape southeast of San Antonio on July 26, 2023.]()
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Eviction bill now focuses on squatters in Texas House rewrite
The chamber jettisoned a provision tenants’ advocates warned would make it easier for Texas landlords to evict renters. Full Story
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![A tenant walks her puppies outside of an apartment where the tenants were evicted and the apartment emptied at the Life at Jackson Square apartments in Houston on April 11, 2023.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Vacant offices, strip malls may get new life as housing in Texas’ largest cities
The bill is part of a suite of GOP proposals aimed at curbing the state’s high housing costs — chiefly by allowing more homes to be built. Full Story
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![Empty real estate in downtown Brownwood on Sep 9, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: Can Texas make its housing more affordable?
In this week’s episode, we discuss Texas’ rising home prices and the steps the Legislature is taking to reduce them. Full Story
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![Suburban development south of Austin on Oct. 2, 2024.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Amid housing affordability crisis, Texas House votes to take some power from NIMBYs
Texas lawmakers have sought to make it easier to build more homes — and harder for neighbors to block projects. Full Story
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![Newly developed apartments sit next to older homes in Dallas' Oak Cliff neighborhood on July 11, 2024.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
Texas homeowners could see lower property tax bills if deal from Republican lawmakers passes
Legislators in the House and Senate have reached an agreement on more property tax relief. But some critics worry the cuts aren’t sustainable forever. Full Story
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![Homes along Lake Austin on March 06, 2023,]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Federal investigators were preparing two Texas housing discrimination cases — until Trump took over
The government spent years probing allegations that a Dallas HOA created rules to kick poor Black people out and that Texas discriminated against minority residents in Houston after Hurricane Harvey, only to suddenly reverse course under Trump. Full Story
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![Housing advocates say a FEMA decision to end hotel stays for Texas renters displaced for Harvey doesn't account for difficulties in finding affordable units in the neighborhoods they left.]()
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Texas Senate advances bill to allow smaller homes on smaller lots
Lawmakers, who are preempting locals on lot sizes in new subdivisions, have been eyeing ways to allow more homes to be built as the state faces a shortage. Full Story
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![The Mueller neighborhood in East Austin on Oct. 7, 2023.]()
Credit: John Jordan/The Texas Tribune -
Texas House bill would weaken renters’ rights, advocates say
The proposal is part of a push by Republican legislators aimed at helping property owners deal with squatters. Full Story
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![A writ of possession and a notice to vacate are taped to the door at an apartment complex in Houston on April 11, 2023.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
How Texas lawmakers want to cut property taxes
House and Senate lawmakers plan to spend at least $6 billion on property tax cuts, but haven't yet agreed on how much relief should go to homeowners over businesses. Full Story
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![An East San Antonio neighborhood seen on Saturday, May 25, 2024.]()
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High housing costs, inflation bite into Texas sales tax growth
Officials said the state’s higher cost of living means less state sales tax revenue, which makes up more than half of the state budget. Full Story
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![The Mueller neighborhood in East Austin on Oct. 7, 2023.]()
Credit: John Jordan/The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill could help turn empty offices into housing
Supporters hope easing zoning rules will entice landlords to renovate and ease the state’s housing crisis. Full Story
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![A view of downtown Dallas from The Tower Club on the 48th floor of the Santander Tower in downtown Dallas, on Nov. 07, 2023. Texas metros have a glut of vacant offices space driven by the rise of remote work, overbuilding and other factors during the pandemic. One option companies are doing to combat the changes, is to convert office space into residential housing.]()
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Texas Senate unanimously approves tax cuts for homeowners
The marquee proposal would increase the amount of a home’s value exemption from school taxes to $140,000 from $100,000. The legislation must win approval from the House next. Full Story
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![Housing development in Celina on Nov. 13, 2024.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune