Research
Research is one of the main ways that Texas Housers has historically utilized its power to fight injustices for low-income households. Here, we have collected our published documents from recent years that dive deeply into housing issues in our state and how we can fix them.
Our mission dictates that we’ve created many tools over our decades-long history and it is important that we make them public, because we believe they can be useful to the general public. However, a small amount of of our older tools are not active actively updating, so they are only to be used with discretion as a snapshot of an issue. If you have any questions, please reach out to us via our contact page.
Reports
Reports and exhibits on the problems and issues related to low income housing and community development in Texas:
How to Improve Housing Tax Credits for Low Income Texans: 2025 Report (2025) – This report is a new analysis on Texas’ Low Income Housing Tax Credit (HTC) program. The report demystifies this critical housing program and outlines policy changes that can improve the HTC program for vulnerable, low income Texans who are the most in need of affordable, dignified housing.
The Limitations of Land Use Deregulation for Housing Affordability (2024) – Many policymakers are considering a focus on deregulation of land use and zoning rules as the primary way to make housing more affordable. This report explores the nature of Texas’ affordable housing needs and whether such deregulatory reforms can successfully address them.
Keeping Harris County Housed: An Overview of the Eviction Crisis in Harris County (2024) – This deep dive into 2019-2024 of evictions in Harris County details both what resources were established and rolled back, the effect on low-income households as a result, and how Right To Counsel is a cost-effective and essential resource for tenants who are facing eviction.
How to Improve Housing Tax Credits for Low Income Texans: 2024 QAP Report (2023) – The report focuses on policy changes that can improve the LIHTC program for vulnerable, low income Texans who experience the greatest housing need. This report is intended to remove barriers to participation by demystifying the process and highlighting opportunities for improvement to the benefit of Texas’ lowest income renters.
Renters, Air-Conditioning, and Extreme Heat in Texas (2023) – A brief about the severe shortcomings of governments and landlords in Texas to protect renters against the harmful effects of extreme heat. The report explores presents policy recommendations on the absence of a fundamental right to air conditioning for renters in Texas, the insufficient legal and administrative systems that fail to help tenants when their air conditioning is not working, the challenge of paying the high cost of energy for low-income households, and the ongoing struggle to get air conditioning in all public housing and income restricted rental units in the state of Texas.
Drainage Study Mid-Point Report (2023) – This project was designed to collectively work toward understanding the City of Houston’s drainage spending and infrastructure planning, to equip the community with the necessary data and knowledge to talk to local leadership about ensuring crucial and equitable planning and spending drainage funds in disinvested neighborhoods, which often flood due to historic lack of maintenance and improvements in their area. However, we quickly realized that there were many deficiencies in the City’s own drainage assessment methods, and that it was necessary to pivot the methods of the project to explore this as well.
The purpose of this mid-point report is to record what has been learned by the study group, what challenges we have identified in our approach, and what new questions have emerged about how the City operates and how Houston’s drainage infrastructure is developed, assessed, and maintained.
Emergency Rental Assistance in Texas: How it went and what happens now (2022) – A report on the factors that impacted the performance of local ERA programs in Texas. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s ERA initiative was an unprecedented investment in eviction prevention that allowed state and local governments to stabilize low-income renters facing eviction during the COVID-19 crisis. After the majority of jurisdictions depleted their federal funds, it was critical to assess the successes and failures of ERA.
How to Make the 2023 Tax Credit Housing QAP Work Better for Low-Income Tenants (2022) – An explainer of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) system, how awards are granted through the Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP), our Texas Housers recommendations on how to improve this system to create the most equitable housing for low-income households.
Ousted: The City of San Antonio’s Displacement of Residents through Code Enforcement Actions (2021) – a report alongside researchers with the UT Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic out of the UT School of Law.
Close Call With Disaster: Lessons from the Hurricane Laura evacuation of a HUD subsidized apartment in Galveston (2021) – a detailed schedule of what happened leading up to, during, and after Hurricane Laura from residents, city officials, and Sandpiper Cove management. The report also has interviews from residents on the day of the evacuation, as well as recommendations to ensure this kind of abandonment of residents does not happen again.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program in Texas v2.0 (2021) – In addition to tracking the progress of local ERA programs across the state and ranking them, Texas Housers identified several strategies that program administrators and government officials can undertake to ensure their ERA1 funds are allocated in an equitable and timely manner.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program in Texas v1.0 (2021) – Texas Housers requested information from each of the 36 jurisdictions that administer local ERA programs in Texas. Our report uses the information we received regarding the progress of ERA programs in their first months of operation to evaluate their ability to distribute funds in an equitable and timely manner.
Taking Care Of Texas during COVID-19 (2020) – a white paper with recommendations for statewide action that would help keep low-income renters and homeowners safe and to provide relief as they weather an economic downturn.
Keeping Texans housed during and after the COVID-19 crisis (2020) – a white paper calling on local government officials to adopt policies and practices that prioritize keeping Texans housed, provide resources for low-income renters to meet their obligations, and promote accessible transparent local government
Rental relief programs in major cities and counties (2020) – a white paper identifying the successes and failures in rental relief disbursement.
A Costly And Unequal Burden (2018) – We look at the regulation changes in detail, map the most affected areas under the change, consider how the impact will compound over many years of disasters, and detail our concerns for the impact it will have on low- and moderate-income people.
Older Reports
No Good Choice for Houston’s Housing Choice Voucher Holders (2015) finds that in Texas’ largest city, families who use vouchers are mostly limited to living in low opportunity, minority-concentrated, unsafe neighborhoods.
The 2015 Texas Housing Tax Credit Report (2015) – examines the influence of state representatives and scoring procedures on the locations of tax credit housing.
The Border Low Income Housing Coalition Report (2015) – explores the issues facing Texan and Mexican colonias.
Closing the Gap or Closing the Door? is our report on the failure of Fannie Mae to give low-income and minority families in Dallas/Fort Worth access to home mortgage loans.
Living in Crisis Report (2000) explores the housing crisis in Texas and highlights innovate solutions.
The Public Housing Debate (1998) is our exploration of the history of public housing in Texas.
Dashboards and Storymaps
Interactive data representations and visualizations that connect the dots between research and community.
Harris County eviction mapping tool (2025) – The interactive tool allows users to identify the neighborhoods, as well as individual properties, that received the most eviction filings in 2023. Intended to help elected officials, service providers, and housing advocates understand where the greatest need for anti-eviction resources exists in Harris County, the tool now includes map layers that summarize eviction filings by Super Neighborhoods, School Districts, City Council Districts, County Commissioner Districts and more.
Bexar County eviction mapping tool (2025) – This interactive tool allows users to identify the neighborhoods, as well as individual properties, that received the most eviction filings in 2024. Intended to help elected officials, service providers, and housing advocates understand where the greatest need for anti-eviction resources exists in Bexar County, the tool now includes map layers that summarize eviction filings by City Council Districts, Justice of the Peace Precincts, and Independent School Districts.
Texas Legislative District Housing Profiles (2025) – A tool to help the public and stakeholders better understand the housing affordability needs and characteristics of state legislative districts. This tool is a nonpartisan resource intended to provide useful information to inform state housing policy discussions.
San Antonio housing need by income vs. SHIP progress (2024) – This dashboard pulls together information about the rate of cost burden and the number of available and affordable units by income level in the San Antonio area, as well as information about how many units the city has produced for each income group through its strategic housing plan. It highlights that the greatest need for housing exists at the lowest income levels, and the city’s progress is not enough to meet this need.
Bexar County Eviction Case Dashboard (2023) – This dashboard is the first ever public facing analysis of all eviction filings in Bexar County. The dashboard tracks eviction filings in 2022, as well as eviction trends over time from 2018 through 2022.
Texas Eviction Diversion Tracker (2022) – A Texas Housers resource that allows users to understand and interpret data related to our efforts to make evictions in Texas rare and fair. The resource currently consists of two dashboards and updating reports:
- Emergency Rental Assistance Dashboard: Tracks the efficiency and equitability of Covid-19 rent relief distribution in Texas.
- Eviction Case Dashboard: Tracks new eviction cases and case rates in Texas’ 254 counties.
The Hillcrest Documentation Project (2021) – Using videos, photography, original documents, and more, we are let into a beautiful community that has taken on attacks from industry and state development which cut right through the heart of Hillcrest, displacing the residents with little options. But through the power of organizing and filing a civil rights complaint, they created far more by themselves than what they were offered.
Unsafe. Unsanitary. Unequal. (2019) – Texas Housers has compiled more than a year of research into three reports that detail the segregation of Project Based Section 8 Rental Assistance in Houston.
A Costly And Unequal Burden (2018) – We look at the regulation changes in detail, map the most affected areas under the change, consider how the impact will compound over many years of disasters, and detail our concerns for the impact it will have on low- and moderate-income people.
Lubbock Voices and Visions (2018) – The Lubbock Voices and Visions project is using the powerful Esri StoryMap platform to combine short video documentaries with corresponding maps, photos and data to reflect and amplify residents’ experiences and voices and to serve as a hub for information about the city. The hope is that this data can help communities reinforce their arguments, using the context of historical patterns of inequality to push for proactive change.
Handouts and Briefs
Simple advocacy guide and briefs on specific areas of Texas Housers’ work.
Renter Profiles
Annually, Texas Housers releases a renter profile of each city council district in a metropolitan area, documenting population size, cost of living, economic and racial data, evictions, and more.
2023 San Antonio Renter Profiles
2022 San Antonio Renter Profiles
2022 Houston PATCHwork District Profiles
General Handouts
Eviction Timelines in Texas (2025)
Texas Legislative District Housing Profiles (2025)
2024 Harris County Eviction Snapshots (2024)
An Eviction Crisis In Texas (2023)
Housing Choice Vouchers In Texas (2023)
Who Can’t Afford Housing In Texas (2023)
Low Income Housing Tax Credits In Texas (2023)
Blogs on Research
- Texas Housers’ updated Bexar County Eviction Mapping Tool identifies hotspots driving displacement in San Antonio
Texas Housers has officially re-launched our Bexar County eviction mapping tool, now updated with the most recent available eviction data from 2024. The interactive tool… Read more: Texas Housers’ updated Bexar County Eviction Mapping Tool identifies hotspots driving displacement in San Antonio - A Little Louder Episode 77: What Texas’ largest cities tell us about evictions and affordability
Texas Housers’ top researchers Erin Hahn and Sidney Beaty join A Little Louder to talk about their new interactive projects. The San Antonio Renter Profiles… Read more: A Little Louder Episode 77: What Texas’ largest cities tell us about evictions and affordability - Harris County Eviction Mapping Tool shows eviction cases are concentrated by area, higher than pre-pandemic levels, and significantly come from out-of-state owners
Written by Taylor Laredo and Sidney Beaty Today, Texas Housers released its annual Harris County Eviction Mapping Tool and Harris County and City of Houston… Read more: Harris County Eviction Mapping Tool shows eviction cases are concentrated by area, higher than pre-pandemic levels, and significantly come from out-of-state owners - Texas Housers new San Antonio Renter Profiles show where renters live, what they pay, and challenges they face in 2025
Texas Housers releases the 2025 edition of our San Antonio City Council District Renter Profiles at a pivotal moment marked by both uncertainty and opportunity.… Read more: Texas Housers new San Antonio Renter Profiles show where renters live, what they pay, and challenges they face in 2025 - 2025 Out Of Reach report shows slight wage increases aren’t keeping pace with costs to fix affordable housing crisis
NLIHC has released the 2025 edition of its Out of Reach report, which chronicles the gulf between the wages people earn and the price of… Read more: 2025 Out Of Reach report shows slight wage increases aren’t keeping pace with costs to fix affordable housing crisis - Read Texas Housers’ latest analysis: ‘How to Improve Housing Tax Credits for Low Income Texans: 2025 QAP Report’
Texas Housers is pleased to announce the release of “How to Improve Housing Tax Credits for Low Income Texans: 2025 Report,” a new analysis on… Read more: Read Texas Housers’ latest analysis: ‘How to Improve Housing Tax Credits for Low Income Texans: 2025 QAP Report’ - ‘The Gap 2025’ finds Texas only has 1 affordable rental home available for every 4 extremely low-income households
The shortage of affordable housing for extremely low-income households is a primary focus for Texas Housers. This is an issue that affects millions of Texans,… Read more: ‘The Gap 2025’ finds Texas only has 1 affordable rental home available for every 4 extremely low-income households - A Little Louder Episode 72: Diving into the massive eviction hub of Houston
Houston is a cross-section of so many factors when it comes to low-income housing. It is the fourth-largest city in the nation, is famously home… Read more: A Little Louder Episode 72: Diving into the massive eviction hub of Houston - Texas Housers’ Harris County eviction mapping database explores the landscape of eviction in Houston
Texas Housers has officially launched our Harris County eviction mapping tool, with the most recent eviction data available from 2023. The interactive tool allows users… Read more: Texas Housers’ Harris County eviction mapping database explores the landscape of eviction in Houston - Track the affordability needs of every Texas state legislative district with our new tool
Texas Housers is pleased to announce the release of our Texas Legislative District Housing Profiles, a new tool to help the public and stakeholders better… Read more: Track the affordability needs of every Texas state legislative district with our new tool - A Little Louder Episode 70: Our biggest stories (and some you might have missed) from 2024
In a supersized episode, we leave 2024 with a bang. Michael Depland speaks with the staff of Texas Housers to reflect on this past year,… Read more: A Little Louder Episode 70: Our biggest stories (and some you might have missed) from 2024 - Texas Housers’ Bexar County eviction mapping tool explores the landscape of eviction in San Antonio
Texas Housers has officially re-launched our Bexar County eviction mapping tool, with updated eviction data from 2023. The interactive tool allows users to identify the… Read more: Texas Housers’ Bexar County eviction mapping tool explores the landscape of eviction in San Antonio - A Little Louder Episode 69: What data in Dallas tells about the future of affordable housing
The need for affordable housing for low-income households is one of the most pressing issues Texans face today. And thanks to a new report from… Read more: A Little Louder Episode 69: What data in Dallas tells about the future of affordable housing - A Little Louder Episode 68: Land use deregulation and its limitations on achieving housing affordability
The shortage of affordable housing is one of the largest crises facing low-income households in our state, if not the largest. While our work at… Read more: A Little Louder Episode 68: Land use deregulation and its limitations on achieving housing affordability - Land use deregulation has been touted as the solution to Texas’ housing crisis. A new report from Texas Housers shows its limits to help those most in need.
Texas Housers is pleased to announce the release of our new report, “The Limitations of Land Use Deregulation for Housing Affordability.” Texas state leaders are… Read more: Land use deregulation has been touted as the solution to Texas’ housing crisis. A new report from Texas Housers shows its limits to help those most in need. - A Little Louder Episode 67: Replacement Reserves restore aging properties. But where are they actually going?
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program (LIHTC) is the largest creator of affordable housing in our state. As these tax credits are acquired, and rents… Read more: A Little Louder Episode 67: Replacement Reserves restore aging properties. But where are they actually going? - Institutional investors have an undeniable impact on low-income housing. Without more data, we don’t know how to measure it.
In September 2024, the Texas House of Representatives held a hearing on a number of interim charges issued by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick to investigate… Read more: Institutional investors have an undeniable impact on low-income housing. Without more data, we don’t know how to measure it. - New report: TDHCA must improve replacement reserves policies to help ensure safe and decent conditions at older tax credit properties
This week, the University of Texas School of Law’s Housing Policy Clinic released an important new housing report, Best Practices to Prevent Substandard Conditions in… Read more: New report: TDHCA must improve replacement reserves policies to help ensure safe and decent conditions at older tax credit properties - San Antonio City Council increases fees on Short Term Rentals as advocates raise concerns on housing insecurity
Last month, San Antonio City Council voted unanimously to triple the permit fees that are paid by short-term rental (STR) operators, or property owners who… Read more: San Antonio City Council increases fees on Short Term Rentals as advocates raise concerns on housing insecurity - Despite rising wages, Out Of Reach 2024 shows that without affordable housing, low-income households remain unstable
The lack of affordable housing is one of our nation’s most urgent crises. In Texas, we are witnessing a microcosm of how these easily addressable… Read more: Despite rising wages, Out Of Reach 2024 shows that without affordable housing, low-income households remain unstable - Texas Housers analyzed all 16 eviction courts in Harris County. Here are the major takeaways from our 2024 Eviction Snapshots.
This blog was updated on 5/29/2024 to include upgraded versions of the Eviction Snapshots that provide more details on defendant representation and dismissed case outcomes.… Read more: Texas Housers analyzed all 16 eviction courts in Harris County. Here are the major takeaways from our 2024 Eviction Snapshots. - Right to counsel is a proven, cost-effective, and essential resource for tenants, report from Keep Harris Housed finds
Harris County is experiencing an eviction crisis. The near nationwide-high number of case filings is driven by a multitude of factors, but the basic problem… Read more: Right to counsel is a proven, cost-effective, and essential resource for tenants, report from Keep Harris Housed finds - The Gap 2024 highlights the deep shortage of affordable housing in Texas and what must change
The need for affordable housing is as urgent of an issue as it has been in many years. In Texas, we are experiencing this crisis… Read more: The Gap 2024 highlights the deep shortage of affordable housing in Texas and what must change - A Little Louder Episode 61: Unmasking Ownership at Problem Properties
Over the past six months, Texas Housers has spotlighted the stories of uninhabitable conditions and mass evictions at Cabo San Lucas apartments in Houston and the ensuing barriers… Read more: A Little Louder Episode 61: Unmasking Ownership at Problem Properties - One year later, can justice be served in 60 seconds?
Almost one year ago, Texas Housers’ Southeast Texas regional director Julia Orduña wrote about her experiences from the scene of Harris County Justice of the… Read more: One year later, can justice be served in 60 seconds?