Accessory Structures in Texas (2026)

Harlingen's zoning code bars accessory buildings from ever being used as a residence, blocking garage apartments and…

Bryan allows one accessory dwelling unit per residential lot, but it requires a conditional use permit, caps size at…

Carrollton's zoning ordinance defines a 'garage apartment' as a dwelling unit attached to or built above a private…

Celina allows accessory dwelling units only in the AG, SF-E, and Downtown Code zoning districts, capping unit size at…

Converse's R-1 Single-Family zoning permits accessory buildings only as private garages or unrented servants' quarters…

Dallas allows accessory dwelling units, garage apartments and similar rentable second units, only inside a…

Irving will not let a homeowner add a guest apartment or accessory dwelling by right. Under Unified Development Code §…

Killeen allows one detached guest house per lot in its A-R1 and SR-2 residential districts, but caps its floor area at…

Laredo's R-3 mixed residential district allows a second dwelling unit on a lot that already has a home, but only under…

Parker only allows a garage apartment or other accessory dwelling in its single-family district after City Council…

Pearland regulates accessory dwelling units through its Unified Development Code, requiring a Conditional Use Permit…

Richardson zoning has no true accessory dwelling unit category. The only living-quarters accessory building it allows…

In Temple's nonresidential zoning districts, accessory dwelling units must sit inside the main building, are capped at…

Abilene's Land Development Code lets homeowners add a second, smaller dwelling on the same lot under Sec…

Arlington caps accessory dwelling units at 800 square feet and counts each toward the lot's maximum dwelling-unit…

Baytown allows one accessory dwelling unit per residential lot, capped at 50 percent of the primary house's square…

An accessory dwelling unit on unincorporated Cameron County land needs its own permit and stays capped at 1,000 square…

Cedar Park allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot as an incidental use tied to the principal home, capped at 200 to…

Corpus Christi allows one detached accessory dwelling unit or garage apartment per lot in any residential zoning…

Denton allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot, sized up to 800 square feet or 75 percent of the primary home's…

El Paso allows one accessory dwelling unit per single-family lot under City Code § 20.10.035, detached or attached…

An accessory dwelling unit in Fort Worth is a habitable accessory structure under Zoning Ordinance § 5.301, and it has…

Frisco's Zoning Ordinance allows a Garage Apartment or Guest House as an incidental residential use under Section…

Garland lets an accessory dwelling share a lot with a single-family home under GDC § 2.58, but caps its floor area at…

Grand Prairie allows one accessory apartment, a second complete living unit with its own cooking, sanitation and…

Houston has no zoning, so it does not regulate accessory dwelling units citywide by right, setback, or unit cap; a…

Leander allows one accessory dwelling per residential lot, sized between 400 and 900 square feet, with an…

Lubbock allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot in the RE, SF-1, SF-2, and MDR zoning districts, but only if the…

Midland caps an accessory dwelling unit, garage apartment or casita built alongside a house, at 1,000 square feet or 30…

New Braunfels allows one accessory dwelling per lot in single-family zones, attached or detached, capped by…

Pflugerville allows both attached and detached accessory dwelling units on single-family lots, but only if the property…

Plano allows one backyard cottage per lot citywide under Zoning Ordinance § 15.1800, provided the lot is at least 6,000…

Rowlett allows a garage apartment as an accessory dwelling by right in the SF-40, SF-20, MF-2F and MF-S districts under…

San Angelo allows one detached accessory apartment, sometimes called a garage apartment, on a single-family lot in the…

San Antonio caps accessory dwelling units at 800 square feet, or up to 1,600 square feet if that stays under half the…

Sugar Land lets a single-family detached home in the R-1, R-1R or R-1E district add one accessory dwelling, inside the…

Taylor's 2024 Land Development Code allows accessory dwelling units, defined as a secondary unit on the same lot as a…

Tyler zoning lists accessory dwelling units and garage apartments as permitted household-living uses. Accessory…

Victoria allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot, capped at half the primary home's size, with an owner-occupancy…

Waco allows one accessory dwelling unit per single-family lot, capped at one bedroom and 500 square feet or 30 percent…

Texas counties cannot zone, so unincorporated Guadalupe County sets no ADU size, setback, or occupancy limit. An…

Texas counties cannot zone, so unincorporated Hidalgo County has no ADU or second-dwelling zoning ordinance. What does…

Austin's HOME Initiative (Ord. 20231207-001, effective Feb 5, 2024) allows up to 3 housing units, including ADUs and…

Texas counties cannot zone unincorporated land. Taylor County's Subdivision Development Procedures and Regulations…

Texas counties cannot zone, so unincorporated Williamson County sets no ADU size, setback, or occupancy limit. An…

Cedar Park's Town Center Mixed Residential Area requires impact fees for both water and wastewater on every residential…

El Paso requires the owner of any lot with a detached accessory dwelling unit to live in either the main house or the…

Lubbock only allows an accessory dwelling unit on a residential lot where the property owner lives in either the…

San Antonio requires the property owner to live in either the main house or the accessory dwelling as a permanent…

Waco requires the owner of a lot with an accessory dwelling unit in a single-family district to sign and record a…

Cedar Park requires an accessory dwelling unit to be owned by the same person or persons who own the principal home on…

Corpus Christi requires the property owner to live on site before a detached accessory dwelling unit can operate. UDC…

Inside a Dallas accessory dwelling unit overlay, the property owner must live on-site, in either the main house or the…

Farmersville allows a garage apartment or guest house on a single-family lot only as an accessory dwelling unit, and…

Frisco lets a homeowner rent out a garage apartment or guest house, but only while the main house stays owner-occupied…

Grand Prairie only permits an accessory apartment, a second full living unit inside or added to a single-family home or…

Carrollton's Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance defines a guest house as a secondary structure for temporary guest stays…

Irving's Unified Development Code defines a 'servants quarters,' the only accessory dwelling unit its zoning code…

Parker flatly bars renting or leasing an accessory dwelling to third parties. An owner also cannot live in the…

Cedar Park bars renting or subletting an accessory dwelling unit separately from the main house: the ADU can only be…

An accessory dwelling unit in Farmersville cannot be sold separately from the main house, and it cannot be sublet…

Fort Worth lets homeowners build a habitable accessory structure, a garage apartment or casita, but Zoning Ordinance §…

San Antonio bars pure rental income from accessory dwelling units: the property owner must live in either the main…

Waco's accessory dwelling unit rules require the property owner to live in either the primary house or the ADU…

A Dallas accessory dwelling unit that is rented out must be registered in the city's single family rental program, and…

Frisco allows a garage apartment or guest house on the same lot as the main dwelling, but Section 4.06.03(C)(1) locks…

Lubbock lets an owner-occupied accessory dwelling unit be rented long-term, rented short-term, or used as a guest…

Harlingen requires a special use permit for any portable or storage building over 144 square feet in a residential…

San Marcos deleted the standard small-shed exemption from its Residential Code, so a detached accessory structure like…

Temple deleted the standard code exemption for small detached accessory structures, so sheds of any size need a…

Abilene lets homeowners build a shed without a building permit only if it stays at 200 square feet or less, though it…

A detached, one-story tool or storage shed on an Amarillo residential lot needs no building permit as long as its floor…

Baytown limits residential sheds and other detached accessory structures to 20 feet in height, requires six feet of…

Bryan exempts one detached accessory structure under 120 square feet per residential lot from a building permit, if it…

A shed or detached garage in unincorporated Cameron County has to meet the same building setback lines as any other…

Carrollton's zoning ordinance caps every lot to one detached accessory building plus one detached garage, bars sheds…

Cedar Park caps all accessory buildings combined at 20% of a single-family lot's back yard, bars any one shed from…

Celina exempts sheds up to 120 square feet from a building permit, but anything bigger or attached to the house needs…

In Converse, accessory buildings and sheds need a building permit, must sit at least five feet from front or rear…

A shed or other detached accessory building in Corpus Christi must sit behind the front face of the house, cannot…

Dallas caps backyard sheds and other accessory structures at the height of the main house and limits their floor area…

Denton's zoning code confines sheds and other accessory structures to the rear yard, requires a 3-foot setback from…

El Paso caps detached residential accessory buildings, sheds, workshops, and freestanding garages, at one story or 15…

Farmersville's zoning code sets exact placement rules for sheds, carports and other accessory buildings under City Code…

Fort Worth requires a building permit for all sheds regardless of size per the Development Services Department. Sheds…

Frisco's Zoning Ordinance bars accessory structures, including sheds, from commercial use in residential districts…

Garland regulates backyard sheds and other accessory buildings under GDC Section 2.58. Any accessory building over 20…

Grand Prairie caps accessory structures like sheds at 50% of the primary house's footprint on lots under half an acre…

Houston has no zoning code, so there is no shed size cap or district setback. Chapter 42's building-line rule instead…

A backyard shed in Irving falls under UDC § 3.1.4, which caps a detached accessory building on a lot under half an acre…

Killeen exempts small detached tool sheds, storage sheds and playhouses from a building permit, but only if the floor…

Laredo's Land Development Code requires accessory buildings such as sheds, detached garages, and workshops to sit at…

Carports and accessory structures in League City require building permits under Chapter 22 (Building Regulations)…

Leander lets sheds up to 120 square feet go up without a building permit, but caps most accessory buildings at 15 feet…

Lubbock's Unified Development Code holds sheds, garages, greenhouses, and storage buildings to a five-foot minimum side…

Midland caps residential accessory buildings (sheds, garages, workshops) at 10% of the lot, 15% on lots five acres or…

New Braunfels caps accessory buildings and sheds at the height of the main house, requires a 60-foot front setback or…

Parker requires a building permit for every accessory building, caps its size at 2,500 square feet or 3% of the lot…

Pearland requires a building permit for accessory structures (sheds, detached buildings) over 200 square feet under the…

Pflugerville regulates detached sheds and accessory buildings through its Unified Development Code. In residential…

Plano's zoning code lets homeowners build sheds and other detached accessory structures, but boxes them in: no…

A Richardson tool or storage shed skips a building permit only if the roof area is 40 square feet or less. Anything…

Rowlett, Texas (Dallas/Rockwall County) caps residential accessory buildings at the zoning district's lot-coverage…

San Angelo caps a residential accessory building, including a shed or detached garage, at 600 square feet or 50 percent…

A shed in Sugar Land is capped by lot size under Development Code Sec. 2-192(F)(3): up to 200 square feet on lots of…

Any shed or other accessory structure built in Texarkana needs a city building permit before construction begins, and…

Victoria's Unified Development Ordinance requires a building permit for any accessory structure, including a shed…

A shed or detached storage building in Waco must clear five feet from the principal house and three feet from every lot…

Texas counties cannot zone, so unincorporated Hidalgo County has no shed size, height, or setback ordinance. A simple…

Tyler caps an accessory building at 50 percent of the main house's floor area and 16 feet in height. It must sit at…

Austin exempts tool and storage sheds up to 120 square feet from building permits, provided they are not in a flood…

Tarrant County does not regulate sheds in unincorporated areas. Texas counties have no general zoning authority (Tex…

A Carrollton short-term rental or bed and breakfast cannot turn its garage into a bedroom or living space. The General…

Cedar Park allows garage conversions only in the Semi-Urban Residential (SU) zoning district, and only if the converted…

Converting an attached garage into living space in Grand Prairie needs a Special Exception from the Planning and…

Parker bars converting a garage, bonus room, cabana, or any other structure into a dwelling for anyone besides the…

Austin requires a Garage Conversion / Carport-Porch Enclosure permit plus a Residential Interior Remodel application…

Frisco's zoning ordinance requires two enclosed garage parking spaces on lots in the RE, SF-16, SF-12.5, SF-10, SF-8.5…

Garland's Development Code requires every single-family, single-family-attached, and two-family home to keep its…

Irving will not issue a permit to convert an attached garage into living space unless the project meets every condition…

Converting a garage into living space in Laredo counts as a building conversion under the Land Development Code, and it…

Converting a garage to living space needs a building permit and must keep the required off-street parking. San Angelo…

Tyler allows garage apartments as a permitted use, but converting garage space to living area needs a building permit…

A garage built before 1980 in Corpus Christi can convert into an accessory dwelling unit with no floor-area cap, as…

Texas counties cannot zone, so unincorporated Hidalgo County has no garage-conversion ordinance and issues no building…

Unincorporated Williamson County neither zones nor permits garage conversions. Converting a garage into living space…

Unincorporated Guadalupe County neither zones nor permits garage conversions. Converting a garage into living space…

Texas has no tiny-home-specific statute. Any transportable, chassis-mounted dwelling that reaches 320 square feet is…

Brownsville's Unified Development Code contains no tiny-home use or building type. A small permanent dwelling is built…

Denton caps backyard accessory dwelling units at 800 square feet or 75% of the main home's size, whichever is greater…

Farmersville has adopted Appendix AQ, "Tiny Houses," of the 2021 International Residential Code as part of its…

Tyler has no separate tiny-home category. A permanent-foundation tiny house must meet single-family standards, with…

Texas counties cannot zone, so unincorporated Hidalgo County has no minimum-dwelling-size or tiny-home ordinance…

Texas treats tiny homes by construction: foundation-built follow IRC Appendix Q (400 sq ft), THOWs are RVs under TX…

Austin is among the most tiny-home-friendly cities in Texas, allowing ADUs on most SF lots down to 5,750 sf and…

A tiny home on wheels is titled as a travel trailer under Texas Transportation Code Section 501.002 and is not used as…

A tiny home on wheels is titled as a travel trailer under Texas Transportation Code Section 501.002 and is not used as…