Houston City Council is set to vote on an ordinance that would require landlords to provide working air conditioning for renters, according to FOX 26 Houston. The measure is on the agenda as the city continues to grapple with intense summer heat.
The proposal would eliminate a loophole in the city's building code. Under current rules, a screen window can technically count as a way to cool a home or an apartment, an exemption that council members behind the measure want to remove.
Supporters argue that renters should not have to rely on an open window to beat the Houston heat. The proposed right to AC ordinance is designed to close that gap by setting a firmer standard for cooling in rental housing.
If adopted, landlords would have to make sure rental units have some form of refrigerated air conditioning. That does not necessarily mean central air, as a window or portable AC unit could qualify as long as it meets the city's cooling standards.
Those standards call for keeping a home or apartment at 80 degrees, or at least 20 degrees cooler than the outside temperature, whichever one happens to be warmer. The benchmark is meant to guarantee a basic level of relief from the heat inside rental units.
Council member Alejandra Salinas is one of the people behind the proposal. She said her team has heard from renters who are living without air conditioning and wants to see that change, adding that outreach helped build broad support for the measure.
According to the report, backers ranging from the Houston Food Bank to the Houston Apartment Association and civic clubs across the city have come together in support of removing the screened window exception. If the ordinance passes, landlords would have 90 days to comply or to show proof that they are working to get the required AC units installed.