Serving on the Austin Planning Commission from 2023 – 2025 as the city rolled out its “Home Options for Mobility and Equity” (HOME) housing policies, I witnessed how the shots were called by developers who didn’t prioritize housing for low-income residents.
A more important HOME goal for the Austin City Council was to increase housing densities along proposed Project Connect light rail lines to improve the likelihood that the federal government might fund most of that project, now estimated to cost $8.2 billion.
A few HOME policies sought to prevent land speculation from driving up prices near the future light-rail lines, but all of the changes were written under the watchful eyes of developers and the billionaire-backers who control our city council to this day.
Despite warnings from myself and other colleagues, the planning commission passed the reforms with great fanfare and cheers from the development community. We were told of affordable housing projects just waiting to be built. All that community-conscious builders needed was to be unshackled from an oppressive land development code. If we unleashed them, billionaire investors would save us from ourselves, unleashing an affordable-housing building frenzy in our great city.
A minority of we commissioners doubted these pronouncements and offered amendment after amendment in an effort to guarantee affordable housing outcomes. Yet, these amendments were dismissed by staff or voted down by pro-developer commissioners. We were told to trust the developers.
One failed amendment that we proposed helps illustrate why the HOME initiatives are not delivering affordability and why displacement pressures have continued in recent years. We tried to create a city-backed financing program to help lower- and middle-income homeowners build additional housing on their lots. We intended HOME to be used as a means of wealth creation for existing homeowners. Our amendment sought to create middle income housing and prevent existing homeowners from being priced out and displaced.
The city Law Department ruled that amendment to be out-of-order. We questioned why an amendment designed to produce affordable housing for the exact class of individuals whom the HOME initiatives purported to target was ruled to be not germane.
Nonetheless, the council promised to develop a financing program for existing homeowners after appropriate study. Apparently, the city is still studying the issue after three years of telling us how great the HOME initiatives are. While no such financing programs yet exist, investors are busily redeveloping properties, adding to affordability and displacement concerns.
The Planning Commission was able to add one amendment that requires the city staff to issue reports on HOME’s impacts on affordability, displacement, housing stock, climate goals, and other metrics. The reports would help determine the successes and failures of HOME. Who can be against a study, right? After all, what gets measured, gets fixed.
There were supposed to be reports every six -months for the initial year and a half and then annually thereafter. To date, the city has produced just one report dated Nov. 19, 2025.
If it were not for independent news sources like Austin Free Press, we would have to wonder why the city has not issued any of the mandated follow up reports. Is it because the HOME initiatives have not been widely adopted as promised? The 622 individual permits identified over the 30 months of the review period represent less than 10% of the total residential construction permits issued in that same period. Apparently, HOME has not changed development as much as promised.
Or is it because the data that AFP presented show that many HOME applications are in East Austin areas that are especially susceptible to housing displacement? Has HOME been more effective at producing density or at producing displacement? Again, we can only guess because the city is not producing the required reports.
Three proponents of HOME policies are on the ballot this November. All three supported the initiatives and promised their constituents great things. Not only have those promises gone unanswered, but information on the failures of HOME initiatives is not being released. Voters should ask why before casting their ballots on Nov. 3.
Adam Haynes is an Austin resident and former member of the Austin Planning Commission.
Shaky foundations: Pro-developer HOME policies shut out low-income Austinites
Serving on the Austin Planning Commission from 2023 – 2025 as the city rolled out its “Home Options for Mobility and Equity” (HOME) housing policies, I witnessed how the shots were called by developers who didn’t prioritize housing for low-income residents.
A more important HOME goal for the Austin City Council was to increase housing densities along proposed Project Connect light rail lines to improve the likelihood that the federal government might fund most of that project, now estimated to cost $8.2 billion.
A few HOME policies sought to prevent land speculation from driving up prices near the future light-rail lines, but all of the changes were written under the watchful eyes of developers and the billionaire-backers who control our city council to this day.
Despite warnings from myself and other colleagues, the planning commission passed the reforms with great fanfare and cheers from the development community. We were told of affordable housing projects just waiting to be built. All that community-conscious builders needed was to be unshackled from an oppressive land development code. If we unleashed them, billionaire investors would save us from ourselves, unleashing an affordable-housing building frenzy in our great city.
A minority of we commissioners doubted these pronouncements and offered amendment after amendment in an effort to guarantee affordable housing outcomes. Yet, these amendments were dismissed by staff or voted down by pro-developer commissioners. We were told to trust the developers.
One failed amendment that we proposed helps illustrate why the HOME initiatives are not delivering affordability and why displacement pressures have continued in recent years. We tried to create a city-backed financing program to help lower- and middle-income homeowners build additional housing on their lots. We intended HOME to be used as a means of wealth creation for existing homeowners. Our amendment sought to create middle income housing and prevent existing homeowners from being priced out and displaced.
The city Law Department ruled that amendment to be out-of-order. We questioned why an amendment designed to produce affordable housing for the exact class of individuals whom the HOME initiatives purported to target was ruled to be not germane.
Nonetheless, the council promised to develop a financing program for existing homeowners after appropriate study. Apparently, the city is still studying the issue after three years of telling us how great the HOME initiatives are. While no such financing programs yet exist, investors are busily redeveloping properties, adding to affordability and displacement concerns.
The Planning Commission was able to add one amendment that requires the city staff to issue reports on HOME’s impacts on affordability, displacement, housing stock, climate goals, and other metrics. The reports would help determine the successes and failures of HOME. Who can be against a study, right? After all, what gets measured, gets fixed.
There were supposed to be reports every six -months for the initial year and a half and then annually thereafter. To date, the city has produced just one report dated Nov. 19, 2025.
If it were not for independent news sources like Austin Free Press, we would have to wonder why the city has not issued any of the mandated follow up reports. Is it because the HOME initiatives have not been widely adopted as promised? The 622 individual permits identified over the 30 months of the review period represent less than 10% of the total residential construction permits issued in that same period. Apparently, HOME has not changed development as much as promised.
Or is it because the data that AFP presented show that many HOME applications are in East Austin areas that are especially susceptible to housing displacement? Has HOME been more effective at producing density or at producing displacement? Again, we can only guess because the city is not producing the required reports.
Three proponents of HOME policies are on the ballot this November. All three supported the initiatives and promised their constituents great things. Not only have those promises gone unanswered, but information on the failures of HOME initiatives is not being released. Voters should ask why before casting their ballots on Nov. 3.
Adam Haynes is an Austin resident and former member of the Austin Planning Commission.
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