Houston is moving to treat air conditioning as a basic rental standard rather than an optional amenity in a city where summer heat can quickly become dangerous.
A newly proposed ordinance would eliminate a loophole that lets some landlords provide screened windows instead of functioning air conditioning in rental spaces that are supposed to be habitable.
What's happening?
On Monday, Houston City Council Member Alejandra Salinas rolled out a "Right to Air Conditioning" ordinance that, as Click2Houston reported, would obligate rental properties to provide and maintain operable air conditioning.
Salinas' office said 2023 U.S. Census data shows that thousands of Houston renters still live without air conditioning, even though most landlords already provide it. The ordinance would also remove language in Houston's Building Standards Code that currently allows landlords to slip through the cracks and choose not to provide AC if window screens are installed.
Supporters say the proposal is more workable because older buildings would not be forced to add central air conditioning. Landlords could comply with central air, window units, portable units, or other refrigerated air equipment.
In addition to Salinas, Council Members Sallie Alcorn, Mario Castillo, and Edward Pollard are co-sponsors of the measure. The proposal also has support from the Houston Apartment Association and from groups including Texas Housers, the Houston Food Bank, and the Houston Tenants Union.
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Why does it matter?
From 2019 through 2023, Harris County Public Health recorded more than 7,600 heat-related illness cases, and the council member's office said the agency found that indoor spaces without air conditioning significantly increase the risk of heat-related health problems.
According to Click2Houston, data from the Houston Health Department show that heat waves have increased 911 calls and hospitalizations. Seniors, young children, and people with disabilities can be especially vulnerable during long stretches of extreme heat.
Across the country, tenants have also encountered restrictions that block money-saving, lower-waste habits, from growing food in home gardens to hanging clotheslines to dry laundry instead of relying on energy-hungry machines. Landlords have been known to prevent renters from adopting money-saving lifestyle changes, such as one case where a homeowner was shocked to find their landlord had thrown away their plants and personal items, including a tomato plant they had been growing.
When basic cooling — or other practical household choices — depends on a landlord's preferences, renters can end up paying more while facing greater health and environmental burdens.
What's being done?
Supporters say Houston's ordinance is designed to raise living standards without imposing unworkable costs.
They cited an affordability review by the Austin Housing Department that found a similar air-conditioning requirement would have little to no impact on the cost of affordable housing and development.
They also said comparable requirements in Dallas, Denton, and Austin have not been tied to documented rent increases.
If you want to work with a landlord, property manager, or homeowners association to update outdated rules around practical, money-saving changes, The Cool Down's HOA guide is a useful place to start.
"In a Houston summer, working A/C cannot continue to be a luxury," Salinas said. "Extreme heat disproportionately impacts Black and Latino neighborhoods, and no tenant should be left without reliable cooling. This ordinance makes working air conditioning a basic health and safety standard because every Houston renter deserves a safe place to live."
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