New city building code will now require all Austin residences to have working air conditioning
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new property code adopted by the Austin City Council will now require all Austin residences, new and existing, to have working air conditioning.
On Thursday, city council adopted the 2024 Technical Building Code, which makes it so no habitable rooms, including rental homes, apartments and houses, should ever rise above 85 degrees. The updated requirements for the property code will take effect on July 10, according to the city of Austin.
According to the city’s housing department, this proposed change “would have a neutral impact on affordable housing.”
This comes as a result of the record 2023 heat wave, which was Austin’s hottest summer on record. The new standards are in response to the city council’s resolution that was passed in August 2023, which focused on “improving livability and public health in high-heat conditions,” according to the city.
‘We all recognize how hot it is outside. I can’t imagine anyone being able to live, let alone live comfortably in this climate, if they don’t have air conditioning,” Councilmember Ryan Alter said during the meeting Thursday.
Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes said in August 2023 the city needed to make sure the community had “safe and healthy housing.”
“We want to make sure that folks can be cool in their homes and that they have — they know that the rights they have are available to them,” she said. “We want to ensure that we’re encouraging good behavior. We know that most landlords are operating in good faith, but for those few bad actors, we want to make sure that our residents, our renters know what they can do in those incidences.”
