HOUSTON \u2013 The Houston City Council passed a landmark ordinance requiring landlords to provide operable air conditioning in all rental properties \u2014 closing a loophole that had long allowed property owners to sidestep the requirement simply by providing window screens. The council approved the measure 12-2.<\/p>\n
The ordinance amends Section 10-363, Division 4, Article IX, Chapter 10 of the Code of Ordinances, Houston, Texas, establishing working air conditioning as a basic health and safety standard for all Houston rental housing. Landlords will not be required to retrofit older buildings with central air. A window unit or portable air conditioner in each habitable space will satisfy the new requirement.<\/p>\n
Under previous Houston law, a landlord could legally avoid providing air conditioning as long as a rental property had window screens. On a 109-degree day \u2014 the hottest temperature ever recorded in Houston \u2014 a landlord would only be required to maintain an interior temperature of 89 degrees. That loophole is now closed.<\/p>\n
The new law goes into effect in 120 days.<\/p>\n
Council members weigh in<\/p>\n
Several council members spoke passionately in support of the ordinance. District A Council Member Amy Peck argued the ordinance addresses a critical public health need.<\/p>\n
\u201cAffordability cannot be at the expense of public health,\u201d Peck said.<\/p>\n
District C Council Member Joe Panzarella echoed that sentiment, saying the ordinance is asking for the bare minimum of accountability from landlords.<\/p>\n
At-Large Position 1 Council Member Julian Ramirez said he thinks of seniors and children across the city living without air conditioning and proper ventilation, noting the broad public support for the proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we have received so much comment and support of this proposal, I have not seen anyone opposing this ordinance,\u201d Ramirez said.<\/p>\n
Ramirez acknowledged the difficulty of the decision but was clear about where he stands.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it is not an easy choice, because I\u2019m inclined to let the market decide…. but this is one of those areas that is not decided by the market, … it\u2019s a health concern,\u201d Ramirez said.<\/p>\n
District H Council Member Mario Castillo framed the vote in terms of basic human safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Houston, heat impacts health, impacts vulnerable populations the most. Codes and regulations designed primarily to keep people safe \u2014 this is raising the bar at the minimum, not a screen but a cooling unit,\u201d Castillo said.<\/p>\n
District J Council Member Edward Pollard did not mince words about the severity of the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe heat in this city is sometimes unbearable… imagine people who have to live like that every single day,\u201d Pollard said.<\/p>\n
Pollard went even further, making his position on the ordinance crystal clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo live in this city with no A\/C should be criminal,\u201d Pollard said.<\/p>\n
Pollard summed up his feelings with a rallying cry for the city\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot be a world class city and some people are living with no A\/C… that\u2019s not Houston,\u201d Pollard said.<\/p>\n
The two dissenting votes came from council members who raised concerns about the financial impact on renters. At-Large Position 2 Council Member Willie Davis raised questions about who would be responsible for enforcing the new requirements and how that enforcement would work in practice.<\/p>\n
At-Large Position 3 Council Member Twila Carter voted no, citing concerns about the financial burden the change could place on renters.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will not be able to afford electric bills,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n
In a release, Carter said in the meeting her concern is for the people that \u201cthis policy is intended to protect. They will ultimately bear the greatest burden. This is an unfunded mandate with no meaningful guardrails for the tenants. The costs don\u2019t disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read full statement below:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis particular topic is very personal to me. And I\u2019m going to speak from a real personal level, not from research, not from Google, not from AI, but from a personal level. As a child, over a seven-year period, I changed schools ten times. What that meant was every time the rent came due, we moved. Most of the time, we moved, and for a very short time, we had electricity until, of course, we didn\u2019t. Some of the places we lived\u2026 apartments, houses, air conditioning, no air conditioning, window units, watercoolers, attic fans, no fans, screens, no screens\u2026 I could go on and on.<\/p>\n
To say that to provide the option to turn the air conditioner on, I\u2019m also familiar with that option. You have an air conditioner, it\u2019s hot. You turn it on, the bill comes, and not only do you turn that off, you turn everything else off. And the higher the bill, the longer it takes to pay the bill and to get the electricity turned back on. So I speak from lived experience for the community on the receiving end of this\u2014the electricity bills, the pass-through costs\u2014it\u2019s very real. And again, when resources are finite, is reassurance enough to say, \u2018We\u2019re gonna help you\u2019? And, no doubt, this measure has the votes to pass without my vote, but passing it doesn\u2019t make it right. <\/p>\n
My concern is really for the people that this policy is intended to protect. They will ultimately bear the greatest burden. This is an unfunded mandate with no meaningful guardrails for the tenants. The costs don\u2019t disappear. Landlords aren\u2019t going to say,\u2018 Let\u2019s put in A\/C. Let\u2019s do this, and let\u2019s let me absorb it.\u2019 They will pass it through. They don\u2019t just disappear because government imposes them. At the same time, tenants are already facing high cost of living, electricity bills, and water bills. And they can\u2019t make ends meet. We have to ask the question, when the resources are so finite, what is the relief? And while it\u2019s all good intended\u2014of course I want everyone to have air conditioning\u2014good intentions aren\u2019t enough. Policies designed to help working families shouldn\u2019t unintentionally make housing less affordable, costs higher, and place financial burdens on already burdened citizens\u2014the very people that we are intending to protect. Before we celebrate what looks good on paper, let\u2019s make sure that we confront the cost in real life. What are the real-life costs? Because this comes at a heavy cost. And it will put people on the streets. The people that we represent don\u2019t pay for policies with good intentions. They pay with their hard-earned dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
District E Council Member Fred Flickinger also voted no, warning the ordinance could have serious consequences for Houston renters.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people will end up facing homelessness if ordinance passes as it is,\u201d Flickinger said.<\/p>\n
A loophole with life-or-death consequences<\/p>\n
According to 2023 U.S. Census data, more than 20,000 renters in the greater Houston area live in single-family and multi-family rental units without any air conditioning \u2014 neither central air nor window units. Seniors, young children, and disabled residents face the greatest risk.<\/p>\n
Between 2019 and 2023, the city says Harris County Public Health reported more than 7,600 cases of heat-related illness, with indoor spaces lacking air conditioning identified as a major risk factor. At least 279 people died due to heat in Texas in 2022, and Houston\u2019s first heat-related death of 2023 was a man living in a home without air conditioning.<\/p>\n
Extreme heat and limited access to air conditioning disproportionately impact Black and Latino neighborhoods, where residents face higher heat exposure, fewer cooling resources, and greater health risks when rental housing lacks adequate cooling.<\/p>\n
How Houston compares to other Texas cities<\/p>\n
Houston joins Dallas, Denton, and Austin in adopting air conditioning requirements for rental properties with no window screen exemptions. No implementation date has been announced for the new ordinance.<\/p>\n
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