Democrats address Texas Housing Crisis

Getty images unsplash     mobile home park

I have a retired friend who lives in a trailer court in another state, and has for years.  She owns her trailer, but not the land, and pays a rental on the property her trailer sits on.  Last year, an outside company bought the trailer court property.  This year, the company doubled the rent.  No improvements, no reason given.  My friend is on a fixed, limited, income.  This is a big stress on her.  I’m betting this same scenario is playing out in Texas, and maybe even locally.  The issue of landlords arbitrarily raising rent is not central to the crisis in housing that Texas is experiencing, but is tied in.

The 2024 Texas Democratic Party platform has planks on housing related issues, and mentions housing concerns at various places otherwise.  This essay is not going to be a review of platform pieces, but maybe a suggestion for what should have been.  Listed references provide some look at the background social and political aspects.


An August 2024 report from the Texas Comptroller is the latest, I think, official record on the Texas housing crisis.  I think it isn’t a complete reckoning, however, which I hope to touch on.  The issue has been recognized and legislation was passed this last regular legislative session to address the problem based on suggestions in the Comptroller’s report.  The new legislation could help, but maybe not.


According to the official report, Texas has a need for about 306,000 new housing units.  Did the 89th legislative session make more state money available to help with home ownership?  No.  With typical “small government” (ha) focus, regulations were passed limiting some municipal zoning restrictions to help developers wanting to build apartment buildings or locate houses on smaller lots, etc.  


And this is the area where Texas Democrats show a black eye.  In 2023, housing related bills were considered, but died without sufficient support, notably withheld by Democrats.  For example, a bill would have limited municipalities’ ability to restrict building “Granny Flat”, or “Mother-in-law House” construction.  Democrats were opposed.  Why the opposition?  Well, there was concern that this would lead to more house buying for short-term rentals and hits to neighborhood character—property values.  And there was bipartisan opposition to the state taking away local control.


As the Texas Tribune reported: “We should not be coming along here and passing a law that’s going to make a commercial, uncontrollable, really unforeseeable mess out of every neighborhood in the state,” said state Rep. John Bryant, a Dallas Democrat who led the charge against the bill.


This year, the bill passed that would make it harder to restrict granny-flat construction. Another bill, which passed this year could make it easier to convert old warehouses, office buildings, and unused commercial properties to housing.


Maybe the new legislation will give some relief.  I am doubtful it will make a dent.




From the 2024 Texas Democratic Party Platform:


Housing, Utilities, and Property Insurance
● Revise the property appraisal system to prevent people from being taxed out of their homes*
● Provide people experiencing homelessness access to housing combined with individualized
case management to guide and support their needs;
● Increase access to resources, such as a free ID, which can help obtain employment and
housing assistance for homeless youth;
● Eliminate unfair underwriting and other discriminatory practices as well as strictly enforce
insurance policies that require companies to justify rates;
● Educate homeowners and renters about the need for disaster insurance options including
hail, windstorm, and flood coverage; and
● Require the Public Utility Commission to mandate all utility providers describe their
products and policies transparently regarding bill calculations and rate history, and
eliminate fine print, tiered rates, and confusing rate structures.


*The first platform point calls out one of the big things (that should be) trumpeted in the platform: we need a Texas system of taxation more fair to the average worker.  “Why we can’t have good things.”  Rural communities have tools they could use to lessen rural home crisis and promote community development.  If those options rest for funding on taxation of local properties, they won’t work.


 Housing is listed as one of the issues in the topic of worker security.


Housing is an issue in rehabilitation of former prisoners, listed in the topic of reform of criminal justice.


In housing we continue to see a need to address LBGQTIA discrimination.


Housing is an important topic in the plank on family and individual security.  Also for longterm care.


Housing figures also in platform areas  of “Housing, Utilities, and Property Insurance”, 
“Assistance for Immigrants”, community planning, veterans services—especially veteran homelessness.  Community planning= urban planning.  This was something in the news at least some time ago.


Discussion


The party platform speaks to broad areas of member concern, but is not a document that gives us anything to help us with compelling arguments.  We as individuals need to find the stories we can tell that may serve to enlighten our audience members.  I supply a number of links for us to look through.


Have you seen views from above of housing developments on the outskirts of some Texas cities?  (TxTrib 2023/05/24 link)  Not an appetizing idea of a solution to housing need.  Through coverage of the war in Ukraine you may have been struck by the soviet-era high-rise apartment buildings which supplied housing in even rural areas.  Also not a particularly appetizing idea for providing affordable housing here.  But some area cities do have clusters of subsidized duplexes that form a neighborhood.   Dublin, for example, has two small units of two-story apartment buildings, and a neighborhood of small duplexes.  These were funded by federal rural development money.  To my mind, these are examples of more desirable affordable housing which we need to encourage.  Has the current legislation made it harder for cities to do good for quality of life through siting on greenspaces and parks?  The housing issue should not just be about warehousing people, just protected from the elements


Texas has a housing crisis, but it is mostly a crisis of affordability (unless/until it also becomes a crisis of lack of builder workforce due to present backward policies).  I admit that my outlook is limited here because I have lived for long in rural areas.  In our large urban areas we have considerable investment in blocking progress due to zoning and infamous Home Owner Associations. Not an area for whole-state platform statement of goals?


One part of the affordability problem goes back to my original story.  Home flippers or corporations buy up properties as investment.  Prices are raised, so some folks are priced out.
We could promote a party goal of ending predatory investing in housing.


If people can’t afford what developers are asking to convert properties into housing, that is a bottleneck.  There have been programs to help communities help families just starting out. However, now we have limits on state and federal funding that communities can apply for.  This makes it hard for communities to take on projects to supply low-cost housing.  Community options are limited in part because federal funding is being cut off and Texas government has been stingy with budget surpluses. Our party can stand for community funding for compassionate community building.


The follow-on to the issue of housing is homelessness.  I think some of the problem is not so visible to us in this area because there are some (inadequate) temporary fixes in place.  Families are packed into a small house. Trailer homes are parked in backyards.  RV courts have a population of permanent residents.  In rural communities, there is a certain tolerance of a small proportion of squatters.  We have a small percentage of our population that is just one step up from homelessness.  There are homeless in rural Texas, but I don’t know how to come up with numbers.  I found a website, below, but the dashboard did not have data. ( And, do you remember a story awhile back that Granbury (or some other close city) had shipped some homeless people off to the metroplex?)


In an intolerant society, people on the fringes will suffer most.




Stop predatory housing wealth-making.
Reform taxation to help communities.
Housing affordability is key.
Support mixed housing zoning to feed community soul.


Data and Resources


Average house price, 2023:   Erath county= $382,827, Dublin=$169,450.  All Texas= $389,907 


 20% population rents in Dublin,    Erath County = 37%,  37% rent in Texas overall. 


Average mobile home price  Dublin  $58,889.


Residents with income below poverty level:  Erath = 15.8%, Dublin 35.2%, Texas 13.7%


 Housing structures  per lot  single=12669+422=13091.   2-50 units attached=3349
            Mobile homes=2696


https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/erathcountytexas/HSG651223  not currently available  but alternate link there


https://censusreporter.org/profiles/05000US48143-erath-county-tx/


https://medium.com/p/f163cb395331


https://medium.com/p/f14138a16583


https://medium.com/p/5e706d912760


https://dailyyonder.com/rural-news/rural-housing/


https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-rural-housing-challenges-and-solutions/2025/03/13/
   
https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-federal-staff-and-funding-cuts-are-making-rural-housing-crisis-worse/2025/02/25/


https://www.npr.org/2025/07/26/nx-s1-5478757/home-price-record-mortgage-rates


https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/23/texas-legislature-housing-crisis-coalition-nicole-nosek/


https://comptroller.texas.gov/about/media-center/news/20240827-texas-comptroller-glenn-hegar-releases-study-on-states-housing-affordability-challenge-1724699586337


https://www.pew.org/en/about/news-room/press-releases-and-statements/2025/06/23/pew-applauds-texas-lawmakers-for-passage-of-much-needed-housing-legislation


https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/23/texas-legislature-housing-crisis-coalition-nicole-nosek/


https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/16/texas-legislature-housing-bills/


https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/24/texas-legislature-housing-crisis/  previous democrat opposition    opposition based on fear of investor exploitation  and attack on local control of zoning etc.


https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/30/texas-housing-affordability-takeaways/


https://www.city-data.com/housing/houses-Dublin-Texas.html


https://www.city-data.com/housing/houses-Stephenville-Texas.html


https://www.beneaththesurfacenews.com/post/erath-county-united-way-launches-program-to-help-homeless-population-receive-important-mail


https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TXSTHPI  Texas House Price Index


https://www.thn.org/thdsn/data/    Texas Homeless Data Sharing Network