AUSTIN, Texas — On Friday, Austin City Council passed a change to lower the amount of land needed to build one house.

Property owners can now construct a house on as little as 1,800 square feet of land. The previous minimum lot size in Austin was 5,750 square feet per single-family house.

In addition, the council approved construction of apartment buildings in closer proximity to single-family homes and denser development near a planned light-rail route.

Austin City Council members’ recent action is the result of years of efforts by officials and housing advocates to address exorbitant housing costs.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said, “Austin has an affordability crisis, and City government has been too slow and inefficient addressing it. We needed to act on Austin’s needs and with real results. Today, we did that. I’m proud of our success.”

Council member McKenzie Kelly, who voted against the ordinance, said, “These changes could undermine our affordability and disrupt our community without proven benefits. We shouldn’t experiment with our city’s future based on insufficient evidence.”

There are also limits on the height of developments per the city’s code. This ordinance brings the height restriction from 540 feet to 75 feet.