Montgomery County commissioners are considering increasing the minimum residential lot size, which one developer says could increase the average price of a new-construction home by $100,000.
Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle
Montgomery County leaders are thinking about raising the minimum residential lot size, a move one developer says could add $100,000 to the average price of a new-construction home.
A public hearing on the issue is set for 9:30 a.m. Thursday before the Montgomery County Commissioners Court.
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The change comes just a year after commissioners adopted a 40-foot minimum lot size. Now, the county is looking to increase that requirement to 50 feet.
“The communities we have developed in this county — Marie Village, William Trails, Castle’s Edge — were made possible by attainable lot sizes,” Bill Ellison, founder of Conroe-based Ellison Development, said in an April 1 news release.
“We have seen firsthand what happens when working families can access homeownership, and we have seen what happens when they can’t. The data on this is clear — lot size is one of the most direct drivers of home price, and what gets decided at this hearing will shape who can afford to live in this county for years to come.”
Ellison said an increase of 10 feet in lot size, which refers to the frontage of each lot, can add $100,000 to the price of homes in a neighborhood, based on land costs and the cost to build larger homes on those lots.
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The minimum lot size in the county had stayed at 30 feet for 40 years before the county increased the minimum to 40 feet in March 2025 as part of its overhaul of development regulations. That change came after several public hearings in which developers said they wanted the lot size to remain at 30 feet, while county officials supported increasing it to 50 feet. Ultimately, the court approved 40 feet, according to Jason Smith with County Judge Mark Keough’s office.
The county lot size minimums only apply to areas outside other jurisdictions.
While the median home price in the Houston region declined slightly to $355,078, the average home price rose 2% to $415,091, according to a recent report by the Houston Association of Realtors.
Latest national estimates show that 88.2 million households, around 65%, are already unable to afford the median-priced new home under the 6% mortgage interest rate, according to the National Association of Home Builders. A $1,000 increase in the price of that median-priced new home would further price 156,405 U.S. households out of the market.
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The question of lot size has sparked debate in Montgomery County, including Conroe, for several years.
In May 2022, Conroe amended its 2018 minimum lot size requirement, increasing it from 45 to 50 feet, following resident concerns that smaller lots led to the clear-cutting of trees. However, in December that same year, the council again approved an amendment to the ordinance reducing the minimum width of city lots to 45 feet and increasing the minimum depth of lots to 120 feet from 100 feet. The amendment also increased the minimum lot size from 5,000 to 5,400 square feet.
State legislators addressed housing prices and minimum lot size with Senate Bill 15, the legislation does not directly apply to county governments. The new law, authored by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), took effect in September and prevents cities from requiring homes in new subdivisions to be on lots larger than 1,400 square feet.
“The housing affordability crisis in Texas is real and we’re facing it head-on, removing large lot size requirements has proven to increase home construction and lower prices. This bill simply recognizes the obvious,” Bettencourt said in a June 2025 news release. “With the average age of a first-time homebuyer now at 54 and rising, we must act now to bring homeownership back within reach for Texas families.”
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