Austin's Apartment Fee Ordinance Took Effect October 1, 2026: What Changed

Since Oct 1, 2026, owners of Austin apartment properties with 50 or more units must itemize their fees and advertise rent plus required fees, under Ordinance No. 20260528-045. Everyone else follows on Jan 1, 2027. If you’re comparing new apartments in Austin inside city limits, you should start seeing a rent-plus-fees number on listings, and that number matters: at 12 market-rate buildings on our board, required fees ran $78-$228 a month, median $120.50 (Oct 25, 2026).

What the ordinance requires

Who	From	What changes
Owners of 50+ units	Oct 1, 2026	Itemize fees; advertise rent plus required fees
Everyone else	Jan 1, 2027	Same requirements

The practical effect for renters is simple: the advertised price inside city limits should include the fees every resident must pay, such as technology packages, valet trash, pest control, and package lockers.

What it doesn’t cover

The ordinance helps, but a rent-plus-required-fees number isn’t the whole monthly cost. Keep these in mind:

• Buildings outside Austin city limits aren’t covered. Many new buildings in Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, and Caldwell counties, and some in unincorporated Travis County, sit outside the city.
• Usage-based utilities such as electric, and property-billed water calculated by usage, may not be in the advertised number.
• Optional charges you’ll still pay if you use them: reserved parking, storage, and pet rent.
• The special. The advertised number may show base rent plus fees, not net effective.

What it means for you

The ordinance moves listings closer to what you’ll pay. True monthly goes one step further by adding electric, water, parking, and the effect of the special.

How it lines up with our true monthly

Our true monthly already shows rent plus required fees, and adds the rest:

True monthly = net effective + required fees + electric estimate + water charge + parking

Line	Ordinance listing	Our true monthly
Rent	Base (often)	Net effective after the special
Required fees	Included	Included
Electric	Not usually	Estimate for unit and provider
Water billed by property	Depends on method	Included
Parking	Not if optional	Included if you need it

Water billed by the property

Many new buildings bill water, sewer, and trash themselves. Separate from the ordinance, state rules already apply: under PUCT rules (16 TAC Ch. 24), the property must disclose the allocation method and past bills, and the service charge on submetered water is capped at 9%. Ask for a recent average for a unit your size.

What we’re doing differently

Nothing changes in our method, because the board already priced fees in. What we are doing:

• Checking that each building’s advertised rent-plus-fees number matches its written fee addendum
• Flagging any building where they don’t match, and logging corrections within one business day
• Keeping the date on every fee figure, since fee schedules can change

Fee disclosure is 10 of the 100 points in the Austin New Build Score, so a building that matches its listing to its addendum scores better on that part.

Read the fee addendum anyway

Even with the ordinance, the fee addendum in your lease is what you’ll pay. Check which fees are required, whether any are per person, how water is billed, and whether fees can change during the lease. Our required monthly fees guide lists the common fees, and lease addenda red flags covers the other pages to read before you sign.

Want true monthly on every building you’re weighing? Open the New Build Board