What is the HOME initiative? What to know about Austin’s latest push for more housing

AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you’re paying attention to Austin politics, you’re probably hearing a whole lot about the “HOME” initiative. There’s both staunch opposition and support for the measure.

Austin City Council will have a public hearing on Dec. 7 before discussing amendments — which are still being finalized by council members — and voting on the overall ordinance. Here’s what you need to know.

First thing’s first: What is HOME?

HOME, an acronym for Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment, is a series of proposed changes to Austin’s land development code — and other incentives for creating or preserving housing. It has several elements to it, and there are expected to be additional phases moving forward.

The following are the proposed changes in phase one:

• Three units: Bumping the number of units “by right” allowed on a single-family lot to three
• Tiny Homes: Patching loopholes in Austin’s land development code to more easily allow for tiny homes to be considered a unit on a lot zoned as single-family
• Preserving existing homes: Part of the HOME initiative creates a bonus program that encourages the preservation of houses already on lots
• House Size Limits: Setting “size constraints” to force smaller units

In phase two, additional changes could be brought forward such as lot size.

Who’s on board?

The initiative was brought forward by Austin City Council Member Leslie Pool of District 7. She has taken lead on education efforts, including the recent roll out of a website explaining the HOME initiative. Mayor Kirk Watson has joined her on working to educate the public.

“That will really be an important piece of the work that we do between now and Dec. 7,” Pool said of the education required to make HOME successful during a panel.

She’s received support from a number of Austin groups including the Austin EMS Association, Austin Apartment Association, Austin Board of Realtors, Austin Chamber, Housing Works Austin, AARP Texas and Austin Habitat for Humanity, among others, according to an endorsement page on the HOME Initiative website.

Pool said the push came as new council members and a new mayor took the dais with a focus on housing affordability.

“It felt like the time was right to bring these back, bring them back in a different way, do things bit by bit and not everything, everywhere all at once,” Pool said. She noted she wanted it to be that way so that the public better understood the steps they were taking to change land development code, versus the CodeNEXT change which was much more comprehensive and had many moving parts.

Who’s against HOME?

Go! Austin/Vamos! Austin (GAVA), a nonprofit that advocates for neighborhoods in Austin’s Eastern Crescent, was outside of City Hall Thursday protesting the HOME initiative. Dozens of people from several Austin groups have also previously spoken against the changes at public meetings.

A central argument against the proposal is that developers will demolish single-family homes that are affordable now and replace them with luxury townhomes, gentrifying parts of Austin that are presently affordable. There are also concerns about smaller units being used as short-term rentals.

GAVA pointed to a University of Texas Austin 2018 study called “Uprooted: Residential Displacement in Austin’s Gentrifying Neighborhoods, and What Can Be Done About It” in their press release to KXAN. You can read the study here.

One of the authors of that study, who also happens to have his name on a study that supporters of HOME are pointing to, said that 2018 study doesn’t say what the opposition may think it does.

“What happens when you make it easier to build more densely? Does that help or hurt gentrification and displacement? I feel quite strongly the 2018 report doesn’t really address that question one way or the other…my view, actually, is that the HOME initiative would likely do more good than harm for mitigating displacement,” said Jacob Wegmann, an author on that 2018 study and an associate professor in the Community Regional Planning Program at UT.

That study found the most vulnerable residents facing gentrification are indeed mostly in Austin’s Eastern Crescent — and that people of color, renters and young people without a college degree are most at risk of being pushed out of their living space by new development.

The 130-page report laid out “goals for addressing displacement in gentrifying neighborhoods” and those possibilities include some of what Austin City Council is trying to do now either through HOME or other initiatives.

One of the goals in the report: Keep renters from being displaced from their homes or neighborhoods. Researchers said the City could provide financial relief for renters, increase legal protections against predatory landlords (both of which have been taken up by council) and implement a “tenant opportunity to purchase” program, among other options.