Construction crews work on a new house in far west Fort Worth's Walsh development Feb. 18, 2025. Credit: Cecilia Lenzen for Fort Worth Report
AUSTIN — As part of a potential slate of solutions to Texas’ housing affordability crisis, state senators recently examined a bill authorizing the use of small auxiliary residences behind a larger main house.
Effectively, the bill would pave the way for more starter homes in existing neighborhoods.
Retired Arlington attorney David Schwarte, a representative of the Texas Neighborhood Coalition, told the Senate Local Government Committee accessory dwelling units would “kill single family zoning” by allowing two homes on lots zoned for one.
Peter Stuckmann of McKinney, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, said auxiliary residences offer early access to entry-level housing and at least some element of relief for students who fear homeownership is decades away.
The testimony on a lower floor of the Capitol encapsulated just a small portion of what has become perhaps one of the most impassioned debates of the 89th legislative session, encompassing such emotional themes as access to housing and the sanctity of neighborhoods.
“When you talk about housing, you’re striking close to home — literally,” said Cullum Clark, director of the George W. Bush-SMU Economic Initiative in Dallas.
Few disagree that home prices have soared to unmanageable levels in Texas, in part because of the state’s prolonged economic boom, which has fostered population growth.
Median home prices in Texas rose by 40% between 2013 and 2019, the Texas comptroller’s office said in a recent study, citing data from Texas A&M Research Center.
Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, chair of the Senate Local Government Committee, jolted a recent meeting by reporting that the median age for first-time home buyers is now 54.
More than a dozen bills are under consideration, including Senate Bill 15 that cleared the Senate March 19 as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priority measures to permit smaller homes in new neighborhoods.
One bill allowing mixed-use and multifamily development on religious land has widely been dubbed as “YIGBY,” or Yes in God’s Backyard.
‘Average citizens are not aware’
Neighborhood groups in North Texas sprung into action against the measures.
United Neighborhoods of Fort Worth, founded about three years ago in an effort against short-term rentals, has opposed at least a dozen bills.
“Average citizens are not aware of how deeply their neighborhoods will be affected if any of these targeted bills pass,” said Marsha Wright, a long-time Fort Worth resident who co-founded the group with Carol Peters.
The group also serves as a chapter of the statewide Texas Neighborhood Coalition and works closely with Schwarte and other coalition leaders.
Other targeted bills include at least three measures authorizing accessory dwelling units, lifting occupancy caps in single family homes and allowing investors, homeowners and renters to convert homes into businesses.
Schwarte also pointed out to committee members that the coalition has delivered every legislator a written petition with more than 1,500 names from 40 cities.
“Our message is clear,” he told members of the Senate Local Government Committee last week. “Do not pass any bills that preempt the power of cities to protect residents and residential neighborhoods.”
Peters, who recently turned 73, said her commitment to the current legislative cause reflects her deep roots in Meadowbrook, a long-established neighborhood less than 10 miles from downtown.
She and her husband moved there in 1984 as the youngest couple on their cul-de-sac. Now they’re the oldest.
“It’s a very mixed bag of people that we all live with together and watch out for each other,” she said. “And that’s what’s wonderful about neighborhoods. “
‘Keep the Texas Miracle alive’
On the other side of the legislative battle is a diverse mix of developers, real estate associations, homeless advocates, business leaders, college students, academics and other groups.
“Our mission is to keep the Texas Miracle alive,” stated Texans for a Reasonable Solution, a nonprofit policy organization helping lead the housing affordability effort.
Alan Horowitz, director of housing policy for Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C., said housing prices have never been more prohibitive.
Less than 10% of homes built in the U.S. are starter homes. In the 1980s, it was 40%.
“That bedrock of the American Dream is getting further and further out of reach for more and more Texans,” said Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, who authored a bill authorizing accessory dwelling units throughout Texas.
Real estate experts say accessory dwelling units are already generally permitted in Fort Worth.
Patrick designated SB15 for passage to meet rising demands for homes and apartments after the median home price in Texas rose from $240,000 in 2019 to $335,000 in 2023.
Bettencourt’s bill allows townhomes and starter homes on lot sizes of no more than 1,400 square feet in new neighborhoods.
‘We have to do something’
In a joint letter to three Republican senators representing parts of Tarrant County, Mayors Armin Mizani of Keller, Bobby Lindamood of Colleyville and Shawn McCaskill of Southlake wrote that SB15 threatens “to change the character of Texas communities and would decimate land use and zoning authority at the local level.”
Former Southlake Mayor John Huffman is embracing a legislative remedy to the soaring home costs.
“We have to do something to ease the burden that’s been placed on our younger generation,” he said.
Opponents of the proposed legislation express sympathy with struggling prospective homeowners, but cited studies challenging the premise that increased population density created by expanded building would contribute to greater affordability.
Cade Coppinger, the student body president at Texas A&M University, appeared before the Senate Local Government Committee to urge passage of legislation capping residential occupancy limits in single family or multifamily homes, which students are pushing to curtail housing costs.
“I don’t think there’s a greater issue that the state Legislature can address in terms of the impact on the daily lives of students in College Station,” Coppinger said, citing housing as one of the fastest growing costs confronting students.
Former Arlington City Council member Charlie Parker testified against Patrick’s SB15 authorizing small-scale housing, which he said Arlington residents rejected three years ago during a series of town halls.
“Don’t allow housing to be built that is smaller than my two-car garage,” Parker told the lawmakers. “This isn’t a vision for the standard of living for Texas.”
The Fort Worth Report’s Texas legislative coverage is supported by Kelly Hart. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Dave Montgomery is an Austin-based freelance reporter for the Fort Worth Report.
