Housing

City plans navigator expansion, financing tools for HOME initiative

City housing leaders have found that efforts to expand and improve access to Austin’s HOME initiative are progressing on multiple fronts, with program refinements, interdepartmental coordination and new support strategies underway. A recent memo from the Housing Department outlines these…

Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • May 12, 2025

SMART housing to see changes in “phase two” of City Council-initiated review

A city incentive program intended to produce “Safe, Mixed-use, Accessible, Reasonably-priced and Transit-oriented” housing may be getting a little smarter with changes working their way towards City Council. The Housing Department is proposing four amendments to improve the “operation and…

Housing • By Miles Wall • May 6, 2025

Roughly 3,200 people experience homelessness in Austin on any given night

Just over 3,200 people in Austin and Travis County slept in tents, shelters or cars on one night in January. That’s about 800 more people, or a 36% increase, compared to 2023, the last time a homeless count was done.…

Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • May 2, 2025

City eyes strategy shifts to address affordable housing shortfalls

City staff members are evaluating the idea of investing more in housing as well as other strategies to address shortfalls in key areas of the Strategic Housing Blueprint, including deeply affordable housing and permanent supportive housing. A memo released this…

Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Apr 17, 2025

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Facing displacement, Acacia Cliffs apartment tenants mobilize at City Hall

Plans to redevelop an apartment complex in Northwest Austin are off to a rocky start, drawing a crowd to City Hall last week with demands for more concessions to displaced tenants. Acacia Cliffs residents and their neighbors took to the…

Housing • By Kali Bramble • Apr 16, 2025

Austin churches answer prayers for affordable housing – by building it themselves

Standing at a pulpit on a Sunday morning in March, the Rev. Daryl Horton of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in East Austin prayed for a swift approval of building permits. An ask that, as anyone familiar with municipal bureaucracy knows,…

Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Mar 27, 2025

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Eviction crisis spreads as affordability pressures worsen

A record-breaking 13,210 evictions were filed in Travis County in 2024, according to a memo released last week from BASTA (Building and Strengthening Tenant Action), a project of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. The memo, a snapshot with key evictions-related findings…

Housing • By Madeline de Figueiredo • Mar 24, 2025

SXSW panelists examine causes, effects of the city's lack of Black homeowners

A South by Southwest panel discussion earlier this week didn’t gloss over the challenges Black communities in Austin face if they’re not already owners of highly valuable residential real estate. During the panel Advancing Black Homeownership Through Housing Equity, Habitat…

Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 14, 2025

Icon Homes prepping smaller home printing tech to meet Austin's infill push

Austin-based 3D-printed home manufacturer Icon Homes has plans to use new building technology created specifically to take advantage of the city’s push for smaller infill homes. After speaking at a South by Southwest panel last week focused on the push…

Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 13, 2025

Housing panelists examine what's worked in Austin, and across Texas

At a South by Southwest panel discussion last week on housing policies in Texas, City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison shared possible new components of the “agrihood” housing-plus-agriculture approach she championed last year. While sharing her views on steps the city…

Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 12, 2025

SXSW panel looks at national housing shortage – and how Austin is responding

Cities across the nation are facing the same housing crunch that Austin has spent recent years trying to correct, with a new report from Realtor.com showing a gap of 3.8 million houses and apartment units across the country. Those findings…

City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 11, 2025

HUD cuts could endanger portion of more than $15M in federal housing funds

The city could see significant disruptions to its affordable housing and homelessness programs as a result of proposed federal budget cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a memo released last week. The memo, issued by…

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City plans navigator expansion, financing tools for HOME initiative

Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • May 12, 2025