Texas

Texas leaves ADU policy to its cities, and several major metros have adopted permissive ordinances. Austin, Houston, and San Antonio have all updated their codes to make accessory dwelling units easier to build. ADU Pass helps Texas homeowners navigate the city-by-city permitting landscape.

2,543 ZIP codes
256 Counties
1,374 Cities

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State ADU details

State ADU law

Texas has NOT enacted a statewide ADU preemption or ADU-by-right statute. Local governments (municipalities and counties) retain full authority over ADU zoning, setbacks, parking, size limits, owner-occupancy, and permitting. Two recent housing-reform bills in the 89th Legislature (2025) touch density and zoning procedure but do NOT preempt ADU-specific local rules: SB 15 (Bettencourt, signed 2025-06-20, effective 2025-09-01) caps minimum single-family lot sizes in cities over 150,000 in counties over 300,000, and HB 24 (signed 2025-06-20, effective 2025-09-01) raises the protest petition threshold for zoning changes. A dedicated ADU-preemption bill — SB 673 (Hughes, 2025) — passed the Texas Senate on 2025-04-10 and was reported favorably by the House Land & Resource Management Committee on 2025-05-08, but died on the General State Calendar when the 89th Regular Session adjourned on 2025-06-02. In the absence of a state ADU statute, homeowners must consult the ordinance of the municipality (or the county's subdivision rules for unincorporated areas) where the lot sits.

Statutes:

checked 2026-04-21

State financing programs

Texas does not operate an ADU-specific statewide loan, grant, or forgivable-loan program comparable to California's CalHFA ADU Grant. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) administers the state's general housing finance programs — My First Texas Home, My Choice Texas Home, Mortgage Credit Certificates, multifamily Housing Tax Credits, the Homeowner Assistance Fund, and Housing Trust Fund awards. None target ADU construction directly, but several can apply to an ADU as part of a primary-residence purchase or refinance when program criteria are met. ADU-specific financing in Texas is primarily local: the City of Austin's ADU Loan Program (administered through Neighborhood Housing and Community Development) and a handful of smaller pilot programs are the most visible, but these sit at the city tier, not the state tier.

checked 2026-04-21

State insurance regimes

Texas operates two residual-market insurance mechanisms that can affect ADU premiums: the Texas FAIR Plan Association (TFPA) for residential properties that have been denied coverage in the voluntary admitted market, and the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) for wind and hail coverage in the 14-county designated catastrophe area along the Gulf Coast and in the portion of Harris County east of State Highway 146. Neither insurer is ADU-specific — both write policies on the full residential premises — but coastal ADU construction frequently routes through TWIA because private carriers often exclude wind/hail on Gulf Coast parcels, and any TFPA policy excludes wind/hail in the TWIA area. Wildfire-FAIR-Plan mechanics like California's do not apply in Texas; while parts of Central and West Texas have wildfire exposure, no state-administered wildfire residual market exists.

checked 2026-04-21

Known state issues (3)

  • legislative-session (since 2025-06-02) — Homeowners cannot rely on a pending state ADU-by-right law; every ADU project must clear the municipal (or county, for unincorporated areas) ordinance of the jurisdiction where the lot sits. Investors underwriting multi-market Texas ADU portfolios must underwrite each city's ordinance separately. (source)
  • policy-review (since 2025-09-01) — While neither bill preempts ADU ordinances directly, both reduce the friction of building small-lot single-family-plus-ADU infill in qualifying Texas cities. Permit-count effects are expected to show up in the second half of 2026 and throughout 2027. (source)
  • other (since 2025-01-01) — Homeowners contemplating ADU construction in Texas should expect harder and slower underwriting on the combined premises, particularly in older housing stock and in counties with TWIA coastal overlay. An ADU project priced in 2023 underwriting assumptions may price materially worse in 2026. (source)
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs

Federal ADU law

The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.

checked 2026-04-20

Federal financing programs

Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.

checked 2026-04-20

Federal tax credits

There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.

checked 2026-04-20

Federal housing programs

HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.

checked 2026-04-20

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