Austin Business Journal reports, "Developers can now build on smaller lots as part of an effort to allow denser and more affordable housing throughout Austin.
Beginning Aug. 16, homebuilders and homeowners can apply to participate in the second phase of the HOME Initiative, a city of Austin spokesperson confirmed, which allows homes to be built on lots as small as 1,800 square feet — down drastically from the previous minimum lot size of 5,750 square feet.
Many density and affordable housing advocates in Austin have long pushed for smaller minimum lot sizes for single-family homes, calling the change one of many code updates that could move the needle for affordability and housing stock concerns. HOME Phase 2 also establishes new rules for lot widths and setbacks.
“This is a crucial step towards enhancing housing affordability and making homeownership more attainable to Austinites especially teachers, first responders, young professionals and retirees," the Austin Board of Realtors previously stated. “These reforms will help increase housing supply, allow for a greater variety of housing types across the city and ensure that people who work in Austin can live here."
Developers hoping to build on properties in Wildland-Urban Interface areas or in areas designated in the University of Texas’ Uprooted Report as “vulnerable to displacement or actively undergoing displacement” will have to wait until Nov. 16 to apply, according to a city spokesperson.
More information about HOME Phase 2 can be found here.
Austin City Council in December approved the first part of the HOME Initiative — which stands for the Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment initiative — that paved the way for homebuilders and developers to construct up to three homes on existing single-family lots. Most importantly for the business community, the change allows developers and homebuilders to seek approval through the city’s general residential review process instead of the more expensive and time-consuming site plan review process. That's expected to incentivize developers to build more housing and, in turn, decrease the average cost of a home in the city as housing affordability issues continue.
Roughly 160 applications have been submitted to the city under HOME Phase 1 as of Aug. 11, which represent about 300 proposed housing units in the city, according to data on the city's website. So far, just over 100 applications have been approved."
Source: Austin Business Journal
Written by: Sean Hemmersmeier
Published: August 16, 2024
Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on
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