Just the Facts:
Improving the Availability and Affordability of Housing
February 2026
Summary: Texas has a huge housing affordability issue. The state legislature took positive steps in 2025, and we need to ensure we elect leaders who will continue that progress and finish the job.
1) Housing Affordability is a Huge Issue in Texas
More than 1/3 of Texas households are spending over 30% of their income on housing. By spending this much on housing, they have trouble affording the other basics of life, including food, healthcare, transportation, etc. (1)
And many of these households are spending even more - over 50% of their income on housing - they are referred to as "severely cost burdened". Over 700,000 households in Texas are Severely cost burdened. On average these households are paying 64% of their income on rent. (2)
A real-life example shows how serious this problem is:
Two adults working full-time minimum wage jobs make less than $2,600 a month together. (3)
From that $2,600 monthly income, subtract $1,670 for housing (64%) and $976 for food, leaving less than nothing for everything else. (2)
And this issue doesn't only affect low-income households. It also affects first-time homebuyers, who have difficulty getting a start on home ownership. The average first-time homebuyer in the U.S. is now 40 years old, a record high, as high house prices force many younger families out of the market. This is up from 33 years old just 5 years ago. (4)
This lack of affordable housing also increases homelessness, and it also constrains the labor supply in urban areas because people can't afford to live there. (5)
For all these reasons, Texans are acutely aware of the problem: A 2024 survey by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University found that 90% of us consider housing affordability to be a problem in their part of Texas. (6)
2) What is causing this huge gap in affordable housing?
First is just a basic lack of supply of affordable housing. The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that Texas has only 222,000 affordable housing units for the 887,000 extremely low-income households, or only 1 affordable unit for every 4 extremely low-income families. (2)
Second is Inflation - Housing costs are rising faster than wages. Since 2000, median rents in the US have increased 30%, while median renter household incomes have increased only 3%. This has created an increasingly large gap between what housing costs and what many families can afford. (7) The cost to buy a house has also been affected by rapid inflation. Median home prices in Texas rose by 40 percent between 2019 and 2023. (8)
Third is harsh immigration policies - The National Association of Home Builders reports that 38% of workers in the construction industry in Texas are immigrants. Even before the current Trump administration, the construction industry struggled with hiring enough workers, and the Republican immigration crackdown has made this even worse. Aggressive enforcement has compelled some workers to stay away from job sites, and construction industry observers say ICE actions are hurting construction employment. (9)
Fourth, other costs, such as insurance and utilities, have gone up a bunch. Average homeowners’ insurance rates in Texas, for example, rose by 6.9 percent in 2021 and 11.8 percent in 2022. (10)
3) So, what can we do to address the lack of affordable housing in Texas?
The Texas Legislature took some positive steps in 2025. They reduced some restrictions and red tape and made more types of housing available such as removing barriers to office-to-residential conversions. (11)
But it isn't enough. Texas needs to do more to increase the availability and affordability of housing. Specific policies include:
Continue to streamline restrictions and zoning. Building on the 2025 laws, Texas should monitor and refine zoning reforms and building codes to avoid unnecessary restrictions on new housing.
Protect renters' rights. Texas lacks strong renter protections such as rent control or eviction safeguards, increasing housing insecurity amidst rising costs. Expanding renter rights and providing emergency rental assistance would help reduce homelessness and housing instability. (12)
Expand rules allowing "Alternative Dwelling Units" - ADU's, or second houses on existing home lots, increase housing stock and may create valuable investment opportunities for homeowners. 84% of Texans support this. (13)
Fix Immigration - The Republicans' immigration practices are not serving Americans' best interests. We need an immigration policy that protects our borders and respects our values, while also supporting our economy and labor needs.
Increase government support for affordable housing. 54% of Texans favor government policies intended to increase the amount of affordable housing for lower- and middle-income Texans, while only 26% oppose these policies. (14) Government programs can increase availability by providing access to funding for housing development, and can also increase affordability by helping low-income families afford acceptable housing. (15)
More Information
1) HUD - Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis (CHMA) reports - https://www.huduser.gov/portal/chma/tx.html. Has data on major markets, including forecasted demand compared to units under construction. Divided into rental vs. owner occupied.
2) Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers - https://taahp.org/texashousingfacts/ - Has data on income and housing costs by major metro area and by county.
3) Texas Comptroller, "The Housing Affordability Challenge", 8/24, https://comptroller.texas.gov/about/media-center/news/20240827-texas-comptroller-glenn-hegar-releases-study-on-states-housing-affordability-challenge-1724699586337
Sources
Texas Comptroller, "Housing affordability gap hits Texas", October 2024, https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/economics/2024/aff-housing/
National Low Income Housing Coalition - Texas Gap Report - https://nlihc.org/gap/state/tx
$7.25/hour, times 2000 hours, times 2 adults, divided by 12 months = $2,417
Realtor.com, https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/first-time-homebuyer-median-age-2025/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Texas Tribune, 6/24/24, https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/24/texas-housing-costs-homeownership-rents-harvard/#:~:text=The%20state's%20high%20housing%20costs%20and%20a,an%20annual%20estimate%20of%20people%20experiencing%20homelessness.
University of Houston/Texas Southern University Survey, 2024, https://uh.edu/hobby/txtrends/housing.pdf
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - Federal rent assistance fact sheet - https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/federal-rental-assistance-fact-sheets#TX
Texas Comptroller, "The Housing Affordability Challenge", 8/24, https://comptroller.texas.gov/about/media-center/news/20240827-texas-comptroller-glenn-hegar-releases-study-on-states-housing-affordability-challenge-1724699586337
Texas Comptroller, "The Housing Affordability Challenge", 8/24, https://comptroller.texas.gov/about/media-center/news/20240827-texas-comptroller-glenn-hegar-releases-study-on-states-housing-affordability-challenge-1724699586337
Pew, New Texas Laws Put State on Path to Improved Housing Affordability, 7/10/25, https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2025/07/10/new-texas-laws-put-state-on-path-to-improved-housing-affordability
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2/27/25, https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/policymakers-can-solve-homelessness-by-scaling-up-proven-solutions-rental
Texas 2036, 8th Texas Voter Poll, 12/11/24, https://texas2036.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/8th-Voter-Poll-Brochure_121124_final.pdf, page 10
University of Houston/Texas Southern University Survey, 2024, https://uh.edu/hobby/txtrends/housing.pdf
Housing Solutions Lab, 8/8/25, https://www.localhousingsolutions.org/fund/federal-programs-for-affordable-housing/