Dallas Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law Rules (2026)

Dallas adopted its Mixed Income Housing Development Bonus through Chapter 51A in 2022 to encourage affordable housing without imposing inclusionary mandates, which Texas Local Government Code 250.007 prohibits for market-rate units. Eligible projects in approved districts may receive density increases, additional height, parking reductions, and expedited permitting in exchange for designating ten to twenty percent of units affordable at sixty to eighty percent of area median income for at least fifteen years. Compliance is monitored by the Dallas Department of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization, which records deed restrictions and audits annual rent rolls. The program coordinates with federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit financing and Dallas Public Facility Corporation tax-exemption deals.