The area has seen a sharp increase in renters as rising housing costs put homeownership out of reach for more households and investors convert single-family homes to multifamily rentals.

The Houston region, famous for single-family sprawl, is quickly becoming a region of renters, reports Kennedy Sessions in the Houston Chronicle. “Overall, 58 percent of Houstonians and 45 percent of Harris County residents rent their homes, according to a 2021 census data report,” Sessions writes.
The region saw 38,000 new renters in 2021, the highest number since Hurricane Katrina drove people fleeing the Louisiana coast to Houston. More than half of Houstonians now rent their homes, while 45 percent of Harris County residents are renters.
Some of the many single-family homes in the region are being converted to multifamily use, putting more rental units on the market, in many cases in low-income communities that experienced high rates of foreclosures. According to Rice University Kinder Institute Research scientist Stephen Averill Sherman, “it's not uncommon now for entire suburban neighborhoods of single-family homes to be built as rental properties.”
Meanwhile, the rising cost of homeownership and low supply of homes are driving more households to rent. As Sessions explains, “The 2022 state of housing report concluded that despite the high demand seen in the Houston housing market over the last 18 months, developers could not respond to the mad dash for real estate due to increased material costs and supply chain issues.”
FULL STORY: How landlords are converting Houston, Harris County into a rental region

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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