According to an update in a July 10 staff report, the city of Denton has exceeded its goal to add 260 new affordable rental units that serve renters that earn 50% or less than the Dallas area’s area median income, or AMI. Since December 2021, 425 new affordable rental units have been built, exceeding the 2021 goal of 260 new units, the report states.
The overview
The 2021 Affordable Housing Toolkit set a goal to build 260 rental units for renters earning less than 50% of the Dallas Area’s AMI by 2030. The staff report states that the city has added 425 units as of July 2026.
The report states that federal programs like the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and tax exemption agreements through the Denton Housing Authority were the primary drivers behind the new rental unit construction.
Denton Community Services Director Jesse Kent previously told Community Impact that federal housing tax credits finance a portion of the construction costs, allowing the developers to charge lower rent rates. To receive the tax credit, the City Council must approve the developer’s tax credit application. In December 2025, city leaders adopted a scoring rubric to prioritize applications that agree to rent to residents earning under 50% AMI.
What else?
While the city exceeded its multifamily rental unit goal, there has been little progress on its affordable homeownership goals, the report states. The 2021 toolkit set a goal to build 420 homes priced for residents earning less than 50% AMI, and the July 10 report shows there are 35 homes for low AMI earners under construction in southeast Denton.
The report states that while there are incentives and funding mechanisms for multifamily housing, there are no federal equivalents for affordable single-family homeownership, making it difficult to finance and incentivize low income single-family homes.
Also of note
The report states a possible tool to help build affordable single-family homes is a community land trust. A community land trust is a nonprofit entity that would own land that would host single-family homes, Kent said. The land would be tax exempt, reducing the property tax burden and the home value would be tied to the owner’s income.
If the owner decides to sell the home on the land trust, it would be sold at an affordable rate, Kent previously told Community Impact.
Looking ahead
The report states that 1,489 income-restricted units are under construction. Of those units, 201 of them are priced to be affordable for Denton residents.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development uses data from the Greater Dallas area to determine affordability, which skews the rates higher than what is affordable in Denton, Kent said.
