HOME...the initiative

By now you’ve likely heard of Austin’s “HOME Initiative, the replacement for the city’s land development code (Code NEXT) which was never adopted. HOME stands for Home Options for Middle-Income Empowerment. Phase 1 passed the city council vote on Dec 7th. Prior to the vote the city council held multiple hearings and invited Austin residents to come to these and voice their opinions and concerns. Many residents did just that and made their voices heard loud and clear at the hearings as reported by local TV stations.

The intent of the initiative was to establish more “missing middle” housing for professionals such as educators, firefighters, police officers, nurses, EMS staff and government employees. With housing prices and interest rates having increased substantially over the last couple of years, many of these professionals find home ownership unaffordable. The expectation was that more housing supply and smaller dwellings would create more affordable options for those residents in the “missing middle” where home ownership was out of reach.

Essentially Phase 1 of the HOME Initiative allows for developers, home builders and current homeowners to build up to three homes on an existing single-family lot. In addition to providing more new housing supply, the advantages to existing homeowners were said to be the ability to build dwellings for caregivers, multi-generation living or as a source of additional income. Some modifications to the proposed plan call for a "preservation bonus" for homes with historic importance . The recommendation from the City Manager's office is that the existing home's primary facade  remains street facing following any redevelopment.

Phase 2 of the plan calls for reducing the minimum lot size requirement from 5000 sq ft, to 2500 sq ft to promote the construction of smaller single family dwellings. Phase 2 will have its own public hearings and review process, and is expected to be taken up in the spring of 2024. For more details about the initiative and its potential impacts the following article provides further details : Austin American Statesman HOME Initiative​