educational screening tool - not professional advice and not a platting determination. every number here is a reading of the code until verified. read the full disclaimer.

houston · chapter 42 · read october 2026

how many homes a houston lot can make

houston has no zoning. what a lot can be divided into is set by chapter 42 of the city code, the platting ordinance, and by the deed restrictions on the block. type in the tract: this page reads chapter 42's routes back, one by one, with the building lines and parking that come with each. a screen, not a feasibility report.

deed restrictions are not checked, and they usually decide it. chapter 42 says a stricter deed-restricted building line controls (42-150(b)), and a plat or deed that limits the block to single-family use turns any split into a notification replat with a public hearing. a special minimum lot size or building line designated for the block overrides every number below for 40 years: check the block on the city's minimum lot size page first. built for houston, texas: outside the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction none of this applies.

inputs

tract area (sf)the whole piece being platted

street frontage (ft)along the public street

depth from the street (ft)farthest point from the street

insidecity limit and etj layers linked below

the street is amajor thoroughfare and freeway plan

access from an alley or the siderear or side access unlocks the higher caps

special minimum lot size (sf)0 if the block has none

restricted to single-family by plat or deedsets the replat process

the routes chapter 42 gives this tract

building lines and parking that come with it

code checks - the numbers behind the claims

what this page does not check

deed restrictions. private, enforced by neighbors and the city attorney, and stricter than chapter 42 on most inner-loop blocks. a lot that chapter 42 would split four ways is often restricted to one house.
special minimum lot size and building line blocks. only the city's map knows; this page takes the number you type.
the shape of the tract. the counts divide area by the code's minimums. a narrow, bent or shallow tract fits fewer lots than the arithmetic, and every lot must still hold a code-compliant house, its parking and its access (42-180(a)).
shared driveway geometry. 18 ft wide (12 or 16 under options), no point more than 200 ft from the street, four lots on a t-turnaround; a 28-ft private access easement with an owners' association past that. the page flags the depth, it does not lay the driveway out.
floodplain, detention, utilities, trees, park fees, historic districts, residential buffering and the construction code - the things that decide the project after platting says yes.
courtyard-style and multi-unit residential sites are shown as eligible or not; their unit counts depend on a layout this page does not draw.
variances. the planning commission grants them; nothing here assumes one.

talk to mark. this page tells you which routes the code leaves open. which one is worth filing, and what the block will say about it, is the conversation: get in touch and bring the address.