Houston | Three to Eight Units

Houston Three to Eight Units: Multi-Unit Residential, Courtyard and Multi-Family Rules

A third home on a Houston lot takes the project out of the single-family definition in Chapter 42 of the City code. From there the code offers three sets of rules: multi-unit residential for three to eight homes on one site, courtyard style development for small lots around a shared court, and the multi-family rules in Division 6. This page gives the numbers in each and shows how they differ. The Houston overview gives the short version.

Three Sets of Rules for Three or More Homes

Sec. 42-1 defines the terms. "Multi-unit residential (MUR)" means property inside the city with one or more buildings on a tract holding "an aggregate of three to eight dwelling units, which may include multiple duplexes, triplexes, quadraplexes, and apartments and condominiums." "Multi-family residential" means one or more buildings on a parcel holding three or more dwelling units. A "courtyard style development" is "a tract of land located within the city boundary, divided into lots, reserves, courtyard and access drives that allow for a unified development."

The first two are several homes on one piece of land. The third is separate lots, each with its own home, which the plat restricts to single-family use. A reserve, in Chapter 42, is a parcel on a plat that is set aside for a use other than a single-family lot.

Source: Houston Code of Ordinances, Chapter 42, Division 6, Sec. 42-194, Sec. 42-155, Sec. 42-190 and Sec. 26-492.

The two definitions overlap. A triplex has three homes, so it fits the words of both. Sec. 42-237 is the set written for a site of three to eight homes inside the city, and Sections 42-231 to 42-236 are written for "multi-family residential" developments. Confirm with the Planning and Development Department which set it will apply to your site before you draw the plan.

Multi-Unit Residential Site Standards

Sec. 42-237 was added by Ordinance No. 2023-801 and has been in force since November 27, 2023. Its stated intent is to "encourage more small-scale multi-unit housing options" and to "encourage residential units to face the street." The standards are in subsection (c).

Source: Houston Code of Ordinances, Sec. 42-237(c), Supplement 93 Update 1.

Four terms in the table need a plain reading. Frontage is the length of the site along the street. A building line is the required distance between a building and the street. A right-of-way is the full strip of public land that holds the street, sidewalks and utilities. A major thoroughfare is a street the City lists as a principal thoroughfare or thoroughfare on its major thoroughfare and freeway plan.

The street type decides how many homes fit. Sec. 42-1 defines a local street as "a type 1 permanent access easement and a public street that is not a major thoroughfare or collector street." A collector street is a public street that "distributes traffic between major thoroughfares and other streets." A site on a local street is limited to four homes. Five to eight homes need a site on a different street type, that is, a collector street or a major thoroughfare.

Vehicle access follows a fixed order. Where the property touches an alley, access comes from the alley. An interior site with no alley gets one driveway. A corner site with no alley takes access from the side street when that street is not a major thoroughfare. Every structure along the public street must face it with an entry feature and connect to the sidewalk on foot. Under Sec. 42-165, an entry feature is a porch, a stoop or a recessed entry, and a porch or stoop may extend up to 4 feet into the building line.

MUR Parking, With the City's Own Examples

The MUR row of the table in Sec. 26-492 requires 1 parking space for each home of 1,000 square feet or less and 2 for each home above that. Sec. 42-237(c)(6) adds one guest space for every 6 homes. Sec. 26-497(c) excludes MUR from the rule that trades extra bicycle spaces for fewer car spaces.

The City's Livable Places user guide draws three MUR sites that show the count:

• Concept 1: a 10,000 square foot corner site with an alley, two four-unit buildings, eight one-bedroom homes of 672 square feet, and nine off-street spaces;
• Concept 2: a 5,000 square foot corner lot with an alley, four rowhouse-style homes of 980 square feet, and four off-street spaces;
• Concept 7: a 5,000 square foot mid-block site with no alley, a duplex at the front and one home above a garage at the rear, and three off-street spaces.

In the guide's drawings the four-home site has four spaces and the eight-home site has nine, which is eight plus one guest space. The guide also says MURs "are allowed on unrestricted lots or reserves." For the full parking table and the ways to reduce the count, see the parking and building lines page.

The Plat Behind an MUR Site

Sec. 42-190(a) says a tract "that is not restricted to single-family residential use shall not be designated on a subdivision plat as a lot but shall be designated as a reserve." Its table lists an "MUR Reserve per Sec. 42-237" with a minimum size of 3,500 square feet, on a public street or type 1 permanent access easement at least 50 feet wide, with at least 50 feet of frontage. A type 1 permanent access easement is a private street easement at least 50 feet wide that is built like a public street.

New construction also needs a development plat, which Sec. 42-1 defines as a site plan approved under Sec. 42-22. Sec. 42-230 lists what the development plat for a multi-family or multi-unit building must add: the number of separate residential buildings, the principal entrance of each, the total number of homes, a list of each home with its bedrooms and square footage, and the number, location and dimensions of the off-street parking spaces. The plats, permits and impact fees page covers who approves it.

Courtyard Style Development

Sec. 42-194 lets a builder group small single-family lots around a shared open space. Sec. 42-1 defines a courtyard as a space "open and unobstructed to the sky," and Sec. 42-194(b) says roof top courtyards do not count. The standards can be used only on property shown on a site plan and "platted as a unified courtyard style development with single-family restricted lots, reserves and courtyard access drive." A courtyard access drive is a private drive that gives access to lots and parking from the street or alley.

Source: Houston Code of Ordinances, Sec. 42-194, added by Ord. No. 2023-801, effective November 27, 2023.

Two rules for other lots do not apply to courtyard lots. Sec. 42-181(a) exempts them from the 3,500 square foot minimum lot size, and Sec. 42-180(a)(5) says "No vehicular access is required for lots within a courtyard style development." A lot may front a street, an alley, a courtyard, a courtyard access drive, or a pedestrian pathway at least 3 feet wide that connects the home to the courtyard, the parking and the public street.

Parking follows Sec. 42-186(c): one space for each home of 1,000 square feet or less and two for each home of 1,001 to 1,800 square feet. The spaces may be grouped at the side or rear of the site, and Sec. 42-186(d) lets them sit in a reserve when the lot owners have a shared access and maintenance agreement. No required space may sit between a street or courtyard and a building that faces it. The owners must be bound together by deed restriction, contract or a homeowners association with power to charge for upkeep of the courtyards, parking, pathways and access drives (Sec. 42-188(d)). The courtyards cannot be replatted into another use.

One City document disagrees with the code on home size. The December 2023 user guide gives a "maximum unit size of 1,500 square foot." The City's Livable Places FAQ says the Planning Commission amended the maximum "from 1,500 SF to 1,800 SF," and Sec. 42-194(e) says 1,800. The code controls, so 1,800 square feet is the cap.

The Multi-Family Rules in Division 6

Sections 42-231 to 42-236 apply to multi-family residential developments. They matter for a project of nine or more homes, for three or more homes in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), which is the unincorporated land outside the city limits where the City applies its plat rules, and for any site that cannot meet Sec. 42-237.

• Private street. Sec. 42-231 requires at least one private street, 28 feet wide or more, kept clear for emergency vehicles, with no parking in it.
• Points of access. Sec. 42-232 requires the private streets to form a loop with more than one point of access. A development on one acre or less needs only one.
• Fire protection. Sec. 42-233 requires hydrants placed so a fire truck can connect to one within 300 feet and reach every part of every building with a 200-foot hose. The fire chief reviews each plat.
• Parking. Sec. 42-234 sets 1.25 spaces for an efficiency home, which has no separate bedroom, 1.333 for one bedroom, 1.666 for two bedrooms and 2 for three or more.
• Open space in the ETJ. Sec. 42-236 requires 200 square feet for each efficiency home, 240 for one bedroom, 320 for two, 440 for three and 500 for four.

Sec. 42-235 offers another path for a development with 30 or more homes per acre. It is exempt from the private street, loop and hydrant spacing rules when fire trucks can reach every hydrant by a 20-foot fire lane, a 28-foot private street or a public street, and when it meets the hydrant distances in that section. For other than single-family uses on a collector or local street, Sec. 42-155 sets a building line of 10 feet, and Sec. 42-152 sets 25 feet on a major thoroughfare.

Deed Restrictions and Neighbors

None of these routes overrides private restrictions. The City's September 27, 2023 release says "The new standards will not override active deed restrictions." Read the restrictions recorded on the tract before you price the land. The deed restrictions page explains how.

An MUR site also gains a protection. Sec. 42-1 defines an "abutting development" as a development on property in some other use that touches, or is within 30 feet of, property used for single-family or multi-unit residential purposes. Division 8 of Article III sets buffering standards for such developments, and the FAQ describes "a 15-40 foot buffer distance between mid-rise or high-rise structures and single-family or small scale multi-family residential developments."

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Houston overview, building codes from duplex to fourplex, and financing two to four units.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)