Texas Senate Bill 15 is a state housing law that bars the state’s largest cities from requiring residential lots larger than 3,000 square feet on new single-family subdivisions built on unplatted land of five acres or more, and it caps how those cities can regulate setbacks, parking, height, and open space on lots of 4,000 square feet or smaller.1Foley & Lardner analysis Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill on June 20, 2025, and it took effect September 1, 2025.
What SB 15 Actually Requires
The law adds a new subchapter to the Texas Local Government Code and caps what qualifying municipalities can demand of new single-family residential developments. It reaches tracts of five acres or more that have no recorded plat and sit in areas zoned for single-family homes. A “small lot” under the statute is a residential lot of 4,000 square feet or less.
On lot geometry, cities may not require a residential lot to be larger than 3,000 square feet, wider than 30 feet, or deeper than 75 feet. They also cannot use density ratios to prevent a single-family home from being built on a lot of at least 3,000 square feet.
For small lots, the standards are tighter. Front setbacks cannot exceed 15 feet, rear setbacks cannot exceed 10 feet, and side setbacks cannot exceed 5 feet, with an exception for environmental or waterway protections. Cities cannot require covered parking, off-site parking, or more than one parking space per dwelling unit. Open space or permeable surface requirements cannot exceed 30 percent, though stricter rules can still apply in aquifer recharge zones. Cities cannot enforce maximum building bulk or wall articulation standards, and they must permit structures of at least three stories with floor-to-ceiling heights of up to 10 feet.
One procedural point matters for how the law lands on the ground. A House amendment by Representative Ramon Romero requires cities to adopt a separate zoning category to comply with the bill, so the new standards do not automatically overwrite existing single-family zoning districts.
What Cities Can Still Regulate
SB 15 does not strip cities of every tool. Municipalities keep the authority to require shared driveways between small lots, enforce stormwater runoff mitigation, charge standard permitting fees, and impose impact fees authorized under Chapter 395 of the Local Government Code. Building codes and public health and safety regulations remain in force.
The law also does not touch private deed restrictions or homeowners’ association rules. A neighborhood governed by covenants that require larger lots keeps those covenants regardless of what SB 15 says about municipal zoning.
Where the Law Applies
SB 15 reaches municipalities with a population over 150,000 that lie wholly or partly in a county with a population above 300,000, using 2020 Census figures. A Foley & Lardner analysis concluded this covers 19 of the 21 largest cities in Texas: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, El Paso, Arlington, Corpus Christi, Plano, Lubbock, Irving, Garland, Frisco, McKinney, Grand Prairie, Brownsville, Killeen, Denton, and Mesquite.1Foley & Lardner analysis
Several geographic carve-outs remove land from the law’s reach even inside a qualifying city. It does not apply within 3,000 feet of an airport or military base, within 15,000 feet of a military airport overlay zone that has clear zone and accident potential zone designations, or within one mile of certain law enforcement training centers.
Smaller cities that fall below the population thresholds are not covered. Officials in cities like Princeton and Melissa publicly opposed the bill on local-control grounds during the legislative process, but the enacted law does not apply to them.
When It Takes Effect
Governor Abbott signed SB 15 on June 20, 2025. The law took effect on September 1, 2025. Abbott held a ceremonial signing in Austin on August 18, 2025, alongside Senate Bill 840 and House Bill 24, two companion housing measures.
How the Law Is Enforced
SB 15 creates a private right of action. Any person adversely affected by a municipality’s noncompliance can sue the municipality or its officers in their official capacity, and so can a qualifying “housing organization.” The statute defines that term broadly to include construction and housing management trade groups, nonprofits that advocate for increased housing access, and nonprofits engaged in public policy research that includes housing.
Available remedies include declaratory judgment, writs of mandamus, and injunctive relief. A prevailing claimant is entitled to recover reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs. A claimant may also elect to designate the Fifteenth Court of Appeals as the exclusive intermediate appellate court for any appeal in the case.
The final law is narrower on remedies than earlier drafts. An earlier version would have authorized economic damages and expressly waived governmental immunity, but those provisions were removed in the conference committee.
Companion Housing Laws to Know
SB 15 was one bill in a broader housing package from the 89th Texas Legislature, and property owners and developers looking at SB 15 will often bump into the others.
Senate Bill 840, authored by Senator Bryan Hughes and sponsored in the House by Representative Cole Hefner, lets owners of commercial, office, retail, and warehouse properties in qualifying cities convert those properties to multifamily or mixed-use residential development by right, without rezoning. SB 840 prohibits cities from imposing density limits below 36 units per acre for eligible multifamily projects and restricts requirements for traffic studies, extra parking, and mitigation fees on qualifying commercial-to-residential conversions.
House Bill 24 reformed the “valid petition” process, sometimes called the “tyrant’s veto,” which had allowed a small minority of nearby property owners to effectively block zoning changes for residential development. Two other bills round out the package: SB 2477, which reduced regulatory barriers to converting underutilized office space into housing, and SB 2835, which set a framework for single-stair apartment buildings of up to 24 units.
Senate Bill 17 was signed alongside SB 15 and SB 840 but addresses a separate subject, restricting property acquisitions in Texas by entities from countries designated as national security threats.