Houston proposal would require landlords to provide air conditioning
Alejandra Salinas has proposed Houston’s first cooling mandate for rentals, aimed at nearly 23,000 homes that still lack air conditioning.
Houston City Council Member Alejandra Salinas has proposed an ordinance that would force landlords to provide some form of refrigerated air in rental homes, a first for the city.
Under the proposal, landlords could comply with central air, window units, portable ACs or other refrigerated air equipment. The ordinance would eliminate Houston’s current window-screen exemption, while still stopping short of requiring older buildings to be retrofitted for central air. If the measure passes, landlords would have 90 days to comply before city fines could begin.
Latest census data show nearly 23,000 homes in Houston and the surrounding area do not have air conditioning. Harris County Public Health recorded more than 7,600 cases of heat-related illness between 2019 and 2023, and Texas recorded at least 279 heat deaths in 2022, many among people who were homeless or living without air conditioning. National Weather Service data showed 383 heat-related fatalities in the United States in 2022.
The city’s building code does not require air conditioning across the board. Right now, rentals with window screens do not have to provide A/C, and units without screens are held to a standard of staying 20 degrees below the outdoor temperature. Texas has no statewide requirement that landlords provide working air conditioning, leaving renters to rely on Texas Property Code Section 92.052, which requires landlords to repair conditions that materially affect an ordinary tenant’s physical health or safety.
Salinas plans to use Prop A to place the ordinance on the agenda, and the item is expected to go before the Prop A committee on July 28. The measure is co-sponsored by Council Members Sallie Alcorn, Mario Castillo and Edward Pollard, and the Houston Apartment Association is backing it. In May, Houston council approved a separate apartment inspection ordinance creating a high-risk rental buildings registry for properties with 10 or more health and safety violations in six months, with daily fines of $500 to $2,000 for unresolved citations.
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