The high 90s are not uncommon during Houston summers. While most commercial spaces have air conditioning, several residential buildings do not. But that is about to change.
Now, every landlord is required to provide and maintain working air conditioning in every unit.
The decision came after Council Member Alejandra Salinas proposed a Right to Air Conditioning ordinance. She framed the measure as a basic health-and-safety fix.
“Houston made clear that no renter should be left to endure dangerous indoor heat without reliable cooling,” Salinas said. “This is a commonsense health and safety habitability standard that will protect seniors, children, people with disabilities, and working families across our city.”
While the Texas Penal Code requires landlords to repair damaged air conditioning units that affect tenants’ health, it does not require landlords to provide ACs if they did not have them previously. In addition to mandating cooling, the ordinance closes a loophole that previously allowed property owners to avoid installing ACs entirely if the unit had a window screen.
The code includes units in which landlords have agreed to provide heating or cooling in the lease, the equipment in the unit produces “inadequate” heat or cooled air, and they have been informed that the lack of heating or cooling impacts the “health or safety” of a tenant.
What does the ordinance change?
The new language in the ordinance strikes the exemption that only requires landlords to provide functional ACs and maintain them at an indoor temperature 20°F below the outside temperature, or no higher than 80°F.
Under the new rule, landlords will have 120 days to comply, up from the originally proposed 90 days, and will be required to make “reasonable and continuous progress toward providing and maintaining refrigerated air equipment.”
Per city documents, retrofitting older buildings with central air conditioning will not be required. Window units and portable units will satisfy the standards in the ordinance.
How many people are impacted?
Per U.S. Census data, 22,485 households in Harris County have no air conditioning.
In 2023, Houston experienced multiple days of record-breaking heat, including the highest temperature of 109°F. Approximately 20,400 households in Houston lack air conditioning, according to 2023 Census Bureau data.
According to the ordinance, landlords would be required to provide a window screen or an interior temperature of 89°F if air conditioning is required.
Since April 1, 2026, there have been 2,745 heat-related illness emergency visits in the Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery County region. Between 2019 and 2023, more than 7,600 such cases have been reported. The item material also notes at least 279 heat-related deaths statewide in 2022.
Out of them, 714 are Black people.
“Extreme heat and limited access to air conditioning disproportionately impact Black and Latino
neighborhoods, where residents are more likely to face higher heat exposure, fewer cooling
resources, and greater health risks when rental housing lacks adequate cooling,” the ordinance states.
Salinas, whose office is also giving away free ACs this summer, told the Defender that the largest number of applications have come from Black and brown communities, particularly.
Regarding affordability, the ordinance’s backup material notes that “an affordability review conducted by the Austin Housing Department determined that its air conditioning requirement would have a neutral impact on affordable housing.” And that Dallas, Denton, and Austin have adopted similar requirements with “no documented rent increases tied to the adoption of these air conditioning requirements.”
Dissent on the dais
Not every member was convinced.
Council member Fred Flickinger argued the ordinance addresses “a symptom of a problem rather than the actual problem,” pointing to a specific property he’d visited, an $800-a-month complex without air conditioning near another charging $1,379 with it, and predicted that “rents will absolutely increase” as landlords upgrade to compete, potentially pushing some owners to sell to developers instead.
“People are gonna end up homeless,” Flickinger said.
Speaking from personal experience of housing instability, council member Twila Carter warned that “this is an unfunded mandate… with no meaningful guardrails for the tenants,” and that pass-through utility costs would fall hardest on the very families the ordinance wants to help.
“A policy designed to help working families shouldn’t unintentionally make housing costs less affordable, make housing less affordable cost higher, and place financial burdens on already burdened citizens, the very people that we are intending to protect,” Carter said. “They pay with their hard-earned dollars.”
Salinas countered that no landlords or trade groups had shown up to oppose the measure.
The AC measure passed with two recorded no votes from Carter and Flickinger. It now heads toward implementation, with Salinas’ office saying it plans to work with the Houston Health Department on enforcement and outreach.
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