Starter home reforms

After decades of background study and advocacy – see here for a research compilation – legislators in Maine and Texas passed bills that allow starter homes by putting guardrails on local minimum lot sizes. Without guardrails, localities often require every new house lot to be much bigger than what local families can afford.

With those proven successes, several more states have serious proposals on the table for 2026. Here’s a brief comparison, emphasizing the lot size that’s required under the law, where the law applies, and whether the law has detailed protections against local poison pills.

The “detailed protections” are important because it’s very easy to shadowban small lot homes via large setbacks, width or depth requirements, and so on.

	Lot area	Applicability	Detailed protections
Maine law (2025)	5,000 sq ft 20,000 sq ft (septic)	For 5k, access to public water & sewer	Awaiting implementing regulations
Texas law (2025)	3,000 sq ft	Unplatted sites of 5+ acres in cities>150,000 within counties>300,000	Width, depth, setbacks, height, bulk, parking, open space, etc.
Under consideration:
Massachusetts ballot measure	5,000 sq ft	Access to public water & sewer	Width (50 ft)
Massachusetts YIMBY Act	No minimum lot size	Universal	None
Indiana HB 1001	1,400 (opt out)  1,500 (attached) 5,445 (detached)	Connected to water & sewer	Width, setbacks, FAR, coverage
Florida Starter Homes Act	1,200 sq ft	Public water or sewer	Width, setbacks, coverage, height, FAR, etc.
Maryland Starter & Silver Homes Act	5,000 sq ft	Public water & sewer	Setbacks, coverage, home design, etc.

Some interpretive points:

• The Maine and Texas laws have been enacted. However, they’re still too new to know how they’re working out in practice.
• Texas’ bill is limited to a narrow range of sites in big cities, a compromise that was necessary to pass it.
• Massachusetts’ ballot measure on minimum lot sizes is a key test case for public support for YIMBY policies.
• Indiana’s bill applies a 1,400 sq ft minimum lot size statewide, but allows an opt-out to cities. Those that opt out would default to a 1,500 sq ft minimum for town houses and 5,445 sq ft (1/8 acre) for detached houses, the latter of which would also allow an accessory dwelling unit.
• The Maryland Starter & Silver Homes Act specifies that town houses are allowed everywhere. I think the authors’ intent is that 3 or 4 town houses could be built on a 5,000 square foot lot, but that might require amendment or implementing regulations.

It may be impossible to legislate minimum lot size guardrails that clever local regulators can’t sneak around. But I’m impressed with the thoughtfulness and quality of these bills. Removing excessive requirements for new homes is a key step to enabling starter homes in more places.