Texas, like most of the United States, is facing a housing shortage. That scarcity has driven rents and housing prices in Texas to near all-time highs as the state needs more than 300,000 new homes. However, state lawmakers have the chance to ease the shortage and help improve housing affordability for all Texans. A series of bills are moving through the legislature this session that would make it easier to build homes—reforms that are widely popular with the public. And in the places where the reforms have been implemented, they’ve worked.

One bill is largely based on a successful policy change in Houston. It would allow homes, such as townhouses, to be built on small lots and be constructed on large sections of undeveloped or unused land in cities with at least 150,000 people. Smaller lots allow for a greater variety of homes. Many people can’t afford 5,000 or 10,000 square feet of land to go along with a house but can afford a starter home on a small lot.

Starter homes used to account for about 40% of all new homes in the U.S., but now that figure is under 10%. Local government policies blocking homes on small lots explain part of that drop. When Houston reduced its minimum lot size to 1,400 square feet, similar to what’s allowed under the proposed state bill, 80,000 starter homes were built over 25 years. And these houses cost about 40% less than homes on large lots, bringing homeownership within reach for more middle-income families. This reform is one reason why Houston, whose housing used to be more expensive than Dallas, is now more affordable—which in turn has reduced homelessness in Houston at the same time that homelessness is increasing in Dallas.

Another proposal in the legislature would allow apartments to be built in commercial corridors in cities with at least 60,000 people. If a city allows three-story office buildings on a commercial block, it makes sense to allow three-story apartment buildings there too. There’s no reason that land with a grocery store, restaurant, or pharmacy shouldn’t have a few stories of apartments above these businesses. Allowing this will give residents the opportunity to live near their job, commute less, avoid traffic, and run errands on their block. Cities and towns that have implemented this reform have succeeded in making new housing more available and holding down rent growth. For example, Tysons, Virginia—since enacting a similar policy—added a greater share of housing than any other Virginia jurisdiction and since 2017, saw the slowest rent growth in the state.

And another measure would make it easier to convert vacant commercial buildings—mostly offices—into apartments. Burdensome requirements for rezoning and minor building code differences unrelated to safety have made these conversions unnecessarily difficult and costly. That’s a shame because office vacancy rates in the U.S. are at a record 20%—higher still in Dallas, Austin, and downtown Houston—and The Pew Charitable Trusts’ research found that such conversions can be a cost-effective way to add housing near jobs and revitalize city centers.

Two other bills are also promising. One would allow churches and other religious organizations to provide affordable housing on land they own, as part of their mission; churches in other states have done so successfully. Another would strengthen property owners’ rights to build housing on land that they own. To block this type of housing, a majority of nearby residents would have to file an objection—a small minority would not be sufficient. In places that have reduced obstacles to building, housing has been produced more quickly.

Reforms like these have a proven track record of improving affordability, enabling homeownership, holding down rents, and reducing homelessness. Pew’s survey research has found that they also enjoy broad public support, including large majorities of both main political parties and independents, as well as White, Hispanic, Black, and Asian residents. That makes sense because removing barriers that prevent construction of more housing helps families, businesses, and communities. For example, the UnidosUS HOME (Home Ownership Means Equity) initiative seeks to advance economic prosperity by adding four million new Latino homeowners this decade. Achieving this goal requires boosting the supply of housing attainable to first-time homebuyers—and these bills will help do that.

With the median home price in Texas reaching $300,000 and half of Texas renters spending more than 30% of income on rent, the legislature must act quickly. If these bills become law, it will help put the era of extreme housing costs behind us.

Eric Holguín is the Texas state director of UnidosUS. Alex Horowitz directs The Pew Charitable Trusts’ housing policy initiative.

This piece originally ran in the Austin American-Statesman on May 16, 2025.