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Houston landlords would be required to provide and keep operable air conditioning for tenants under a newly proposed ordinance.
The big picture
The city of Houston’s building standards code currently has a loophole that exempts landlords from providing air conditioning if they use window screens as a substitute for cooling.
The ordinance would eliminate the window screen exemption and would approve compliance through:
The ordinance would not require older buildings to be retrofitted for central air.
Another detail
Called the Right to Air Conditioning ordinance, the measure was proposed by council member Alejandra Salinas, who said that while the majority of landlords already provide air conditioning, there are still thousands of renters who live without it.
“In a Houston summer, working AC 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.”
As Houston experiences more frequent extreme heat, renters without adequate cooling face potentially dangerous living conditions and serious health risks, especially seniors, young children and residents with disabilities, Salinas said.
Between 2019 and 2023, Harris County Public Health reported more than 7,600 cases of heat-related illness and found that indoor areas without air conditioning significantly increased the risk of such illnesses, per the release.
Houston Health Department data also shows that heat waves have driven sharp increases in 911 calls and hospitalizations, and at least 279 people died due to heat in Texas in 2022, with many of the cases being people who were homeless or living without air conditioning.
One more thing
The ordinance is co-sponsored by council members Sallie Alcorn, Mario Castillo and Edward Pollard, and is supported by the Houston Apartment Association. Salinas will use Prop A to add the proposed ordinance to the agenda.
Prop A allows council members to put their own proposed items on the agenda if at least three other members support them. Council will discuss it at the Prop A committee meeting July 28, and the item will appear on the agenda one to two weeks after the meeting.
