Expensive Texas housing provides common political ground
Over the last decade, political polarization has risen dramatically. Texas is no exception. On issues such as abortion, immigration and gun rights, Texans are finding themselves farther and farther apart from one another.
One issue cuts through today’s partisan divide. Democrats, Republicans and independents alike agree on one thing: The cost of housing is too high. In fact, 57% of Texas adults in urban areas say they spend too much of their income on housing, a sharp increase from 44% in 2020.
There’s a good reason Texans are feeling this way: Almost half of Texans are burdened by the cost of housing, spending more than 30% of their household income on housing costs; and Texas cities make up three of the seven most underhoused cities across the United States.
Texas’ housing shortage is hurting middle-class workers and students. In Dallas, renters need to earn $53,040 a year to afford a one-bedroom apartment. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a childcare worker in Dallas makes on average just $12.84 an hour — nowhere near enough.
For students at the University of Texas at Austin, the average monthly rent for off-campus housing is an eye-popping $2,178. In Houston, despite having the most housingfriendly policies in the state, costs are still rising. In fact, 1 in 4 Houstonians are worried about making their monthly rent payments.
Thankfully, there is a solution. We need to build more “missing middle” housing in Texas. If we make it easier and more efficient to build housing that fits the needs and incomes of middle-class Texans, the cost of housing will come down. This starts with easing suffocating land-use restrictions that make the process of building homes too costly, lengthy and risky.
Next, Texas must reform minimum lot size requirements so prospective buyers have flexibility on the amount of land they need to house their families. Requiring expansive front yards and backyards is pricing out millions of Texans. We do not have to look far to see the success of minimum lot size reform. In the late 1990s, Houston reduced their minimum lot size requirements to 1,400 square feet. As a result, Houston enjoyed a surge of 80,000 new homes.
We can uphold our Texas values of strong private property rights by allowing Texans to choose what type of housing to build on their own land, including accessory dwelling units. Research shows those units reduce barriers to affordable intergenerational care among families.
That’s the policy side. As for politics, the good news is that there are things both Republicans and Democrats can like in these reforms. Lower housing costs lift the middle class, reduce carbon emissions, preserve Texas’ workforce, support young families, increase economic opportunity, promote Texas’ pro-business climate and protect Texans’ freedom to select the housing choice that aligns with their needs.
One of us, Zack Abnet, is a conservative Republican. The other, Micah Erfan, is a Democrat. We co-authored this piece to demonstrate that despite the increasing vitriol that infuses today’s politics, reasonable solutions can still win. We disagree on a lot of issues, but on this one we agree: Burdensome regulations should not put homeownership out of reach of hard-working Texans.
Time is running out to address Texas’ housing shortage. Inaction will drive seniors into poverty, cause recent college graduates to leave the state and send prospective businesses elsewhere. In 2025, Gov. Greg Abbott and the Legislature have the opportunity to enact commonsense housing reform. But first, Texans of all political persuasions and walks of life must come together in the call for change. Democrat or Republican or independent, urban or rural, white-collar or bluecollar — there is room for all of us in the pro-housing movement.
Micah Erfan is president of Grow Our City, a pro-housing group in Houston, and a steering committee member for the Center for New Liberalism. Zack Abnet is a conservative environmentalist currently working in Texas grassroots politics.