Cities | Austin

Austin HOME Rules 2026: Three Homes and 1,800 sq ft Lots

Austin rewrote its rules for single-family lots in two steps called HOME. Phase 1 lets a lot zoned SF-1, SF-2 or SF-3 hold up to three homes if it has 5,750 square feet. Phase 2 lets one home sit on a lot as small as 1,800 square feet. The City also removed minimum parking rules and narrowed the height limits near houses. This page gives each rule with its ordinance number and date, then the state laws that apply in Austin.

State Law in Austin, in Brief

Austin had 961,855 people in the 2020 Census and sits partly in Travis County, which had 1,290,188. That puts it among the 19 cities the 2025 laws reach, by VanPlex count from 2020 Census figures. Three state laws matter here. SB 15 caps the lot size a city can require on a new single-family tract of five acres or more with no recorded plat, at 3,000 square feet. Austin's own Phase 2 rule already goes lower, to 1,800 square feet. SB 840 requires Austin to allow housing of three or more units on land zoned for office, commercial, retail or warehouse use, with no rezoning. HB 24 raised the neighbor protest threshold for rezonings that add housing to 60 percent of the land within 200 feet. Texas has no statewide accessory dwelling unit (ADU) law, so the number of homes on an Austin lot comes from the City's code.

HOME Phase 1: Up to Three Homes

The Austin City Council adopted HOME Phase 1 on December 7, 2023 as Ordinance No. 20231207-001. Part 21 of the ordinance says: "This ordinance takes effect on December 18, 2023. This ordinance applies only to an application filed on or after February 5, 2024." The City's HOME amendments page confirms that applications under Phase 1 were accepted from February 5, 2024.

The ordinance made three uses permitted in the SF-1, SF-2 and SF-3 zones: duplex, two-unit residential and three-unit residential. "Permitted" means the use is allowed by staff review against the written rules, with no rezoning and no council vote. The maximum number of dwelling units per lot in those zones rose to three. The City sums it up as "Allow up to three housing units, including tiny homes, on a Single-Family (SF) zoned property."

Phase 1 made three other changes. It repealed City Code 25-2-511, the old limit on how many unrelated adults may live in one home. It removed the split between a "primary" unit and a "secondary" or "accessory" unit, and it ended guest houses and accessory apartments as separate accessory use categories. So in Austin a backyard cottage counts as one of the units on the lot. Phase 1 also defined a tiny home as a dwelling unit of 400 square feet or less, not counting loft space.

Lot and Site Rules for Two or Three Homes

City Code 25-2-773, as adopted by Phase 1, sets the site rules for duplex, two-unit and three-unit uses. A setback is the required distance between a building and the property line. Building coverage is the share of the lot covered by buildings. Impervious cover is the share covered by any hard surface that water cannot soak into, such as roofs, driveways and patios.

Source: Ordinance No. 20231207-001, City Code 25-2-773(B) and (E) as adopted in 2023. The HOME page repeats the 40 and 45 percent limits as current.

FAR, or floor-to-area ratio, is the total floor area of the buildings divided by the lot area. A 0.55 FAR on a 6,000 square foot lot allows 3,300 square feet of floor area. The FAR limits apply inside the area covered by Subchapter F of Austin's land code, the residential design rules known locally as the "McMansion" rules. The ordinance also gives a preservation bonus: when you keep an existing unit, its kept square footage can be left out of the limit.

The FAR numbers in the table are the ones adopted in 2023. The City's HOME page also lists a "2026 Floor Area (FAR) Update" presentation dated April 28, 2026. VanPlex did not confirm whether the 2023 numbers have since been amended, so read the current code before you design to them.

Short-Term Rentals in a Duplex

A short-term rental is a home rented for less than 30 days at a time. Under City Code 25-2-773(D), one dwelling unit in a duplex or two-unit residential use may not be used as a short-term rental for more than 30 days in a calendar year. The rule applies to two-unit uses built after October 1, 2015 and to duplexes built after December 7, 2023. If you plan to rent both units by the night, one of them can be rented that way for 30 days a year at most. State law leaves this power with the city: SB 15 says it does not affect city rules on homes leased for less than 30 days.

HOME Phase 2: One Home on an 1,800 sq ft Lot

The Council adopted HOME Phase 2 on May 16, 2024 as Ordinance No. 20240516-006. Part 12 says it took effect on May 27, 2024. The City accepted Phase 2 applications from August 16, 2024, except for properties in the Wildland-Urban Interface area (where homes meet wildland that can burn) or "designated by the Uprooted Report," in the City's words, and from November 16, 2024 for the whole city.

Phase 2 created a "small lot single-family residential use" in the SF-1, SF-2 and SF-3 zones. It is one home on a lot of at least 1,800 square feet and less than 5,750 square feet. A flag lot is a lot that reaches the street only through a narrow strip of land.

Source: Ordinance No. 20240516-006, City Code 25-2-779(F) to (J) as adopted in 2024.

Splitting a Lot Under Phase 2

On a lot of 5,750 square feet or more, using Phase 2 means dividing the land first. The HOME page says: "Unless an existing lot is already below 5,750 square feet, a subdivision application is required." A subdivision creates new lots on a recorded map called a plat. The City built a "Residential Infill" process for resubdivisions of up to one acre of land already platted for homes, with no need to cancel the old plat first.

Drainage was the other step. The Council adopted Ordinance No. 20250306-037 on March 6, 2025 to create drainage rules for residential infill projects, and applications under it began June 16, 2025. The HOME page states: "If your lot was created before June 16, 2025, and you're building no more than four units, then no drainage review is required."

State law sets the clock on the plat. Under Local Government Code 212.009, a Texas city must approve, approve with conditions, or deny a plat within 30 days after it is filed, or the plat is approved. Reasons for conditions or denial must be in writing. The zoning page explains the full plat rules.

Parking, Compatibility and Transit Areas

Parking. At its November 2, 2023 meeting, Item 28, the Council adopted Ordinance No. 20231102-028 to "eliminate minimum parking space requirements, except for accessible parking spaces." You decide how much parking a duplex or triplex gets.

Compatibility. Compatibility rules limit the height of larger buildings near houses. Ordinance No. 20240516-004, effective July 15, 2024, applies them to sites zoned MF-4 or less restrictive that sit within 75 feet of a "triggering property": a site with one to three homes zoned SF-5 or more restrictive. Height is capped at 40 feet within 50 feet of that property and 60 feet from 50 to 75 feet. Duplex, two-unit, three-unit, single-family and small-lot uses are exempt, so the rules do not cap a HOME project.

Transit areas. On May 16, 2024 the Council also adopted Ordinance No. 20240516-005, the Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) overlay. An overlay is an extra layer of rules placed over the base zone. This one offers a density bonus (more height or homes in return for community benefits) within half a mile of the planned Phase 1 light rail and its priority extensions. Ordinance No. 20240516-003 rezoned land along North Lamar, Guadalupe and South Congress. Both are listed on the May 16, 2024 Council page.

Deed Restrictions Still Apply

HOME changes the City code, and private rules recorded against your lot stay in force. The HOME page states: "It is the applicant's responsibility to verify property-specific information such as deed restrictions or restrictive covenants on the property." Texas Property Code 202.003 tells courts that a restrictive covenant "shall be liberally construed to give effect to its purposes and intent," and Property Code 202.004 lets a court award up to $200 for each day a violation lasts. Order the recorded restrictions for your subdivision before you pay for plans.

What the Numbers Show

Austin had 1,002,632 people on July 1, 2025, by the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate, up from 961,855 in the 2020 Census. The city lies in Travis, Williamson, Hays and Bastrop counties. A City memo of November 19, 2025 reports: "A total of 436 new housing units were approved under HOME Phase 1, including two-unit, three-unit, and duplex configurations."

Source: Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, South Region places, 2025 annual. Population from the Vintage 2025 city file.

The Census counts a building by how many homes it holds, so a two-unit permit is one building with two homes. Three units on one lot can appear as one three-unit building, or as a duplex plus a one-unit building, depending on how they are built and permitted. The memo's 436 count and the Census count measure different things and should not be added together.

Changes Under Discussion in 2026

A draft resolution posted for the May 7, 2026 Council meeting (Item 26, File ID 26-1709) would direct the City Manager to propose more amendments. Two of them matter for small builders: allowing two dwelling units on lots of at least 3,600 square feet and less than 5,750 square feet in SF-1, SF-2 and SF-3, and removing building coverage limits for duplex, two-unit and three-unit uses. A resolution only directs City staff, and a code change needs an ordinance. VanPlex found no ordinance adopted from it as of October 2026. Check the City's HOME page for any new ordinance before you rely on these proposals.

Permits and Fees

HOME applications go through the City's development services office, which runs the HOME amendments page. State law sets a deadline for the building permit itself. Under Local Government Code 214.904, a Texas city must grant or deny a permit application within 45 days, give written reasons why it cannot yet decide, or agree on a deadline with you. If it misses the deadline, it may not collect the permit fees and must refund any it took. VanPlex did not verify Austin's adopted fee schedule, so this page states no fee amounts. Ask the City for the current schedule before you budget.

A duplex in Texas follows the residential building code, while a building with three stacked units follows the commercial code. The building codes page explains where that line falls.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: Austin in the global multiplex zoning comparison, the SB 15 small lots page and the Texas multiplex guide overview.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)