Ahead of Austin's scorching summer months, City Council members adopted a property maintenance code Thursday that requires all homes in the city to have functioning air conditioning.
The new rule does not require property owners to have central air conditioning. But owners are required to have some form of air conditioning equipment, such as window units, capable of cooling homes to a temperature 15 degrees Fahrenheit lower than outside — as long as the temperature inside the home stays at or below 85 degrees.
The change requires that air conditioning be able to cool any "habitable" room in a home, which typically includes rooms where people relax, sleep, eat or cook. This likely would not include attic space, for example.
"Knowing that we had Austinites who were experiencing extreme heating conditions … I'm very pleased to see this move forward, " said Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes, who represents parts of Southeast Austin and whose office pushed for the change.
Several other cities in Texas require rental homes to have air conditioning, including Dallas and Denton. Austin already required that existing air conditioners work. But if a home did not have any form of air conditioning, the city had no regulation to force owners to install equipment.
Austin residents have battled record-breaking summers in recent years. 2023 was the city's hottest summer on record, as temperatures eclipsed triple digits for more than 40 consecutive days.
It's unclear how many people in Austin currently live without some form of air conditioning. According to a census data sample of nearly 11,500 Texas homes, about 1% did not have air conditioning.
There have been attempts at the state level to mandate air conditioning in homes. Last year, state Rep. and former Austin City Council Member Sheryl Cole filed a bill requiring landlords to provide some form of air conditioning, but it has yet to be considered by lawmakers.
Some protections for renters already exist in the state. The Texas property code requires landlords to fix issues impacting a renter's health or safety, which could include effects of extreme heat. This could theoretically apply to a renter with a broken AC unit.
Landlords and organizations said Thursday this requirement could be costly.
"Many older buildings, especially those built before 1970, were not designed with modern HVAC systems in mind," said Emily Blair, executive vice president of the Austin Apartment Association. "For those buildings, retrofitting every habitable room to meet the new standards could be financially devastating."
The requirement goes into effect July 10. Property owners who do not follow the rule could be cited by the city and subject to fines.
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