# Austin legalizes single-stair apartment buildings up to 5 storeys

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2025-04-11

austin, texas, single-stair-buildings, point-access-blocks, apartment, development, building-code, real-estate, construction

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Yesterday, [Austin City Council voted 10-1](https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-city-council-signs-off-on-more-single-stair-buildings/) in favor of a building code amendment that will allow single-stair apartment buildings up to five storeys and with 4 homes per floor. This is progress. Austin now joins Seattle, New York, and possibly other US cities in allowing this building type, which is a type that is widespread outside of North America. Paris, for instance, [allows single-stair buildings up to 50m](https://www.globizen.com/journal/2025/4/4/global-city-builders-avenier-cornejo-architectes-paris).

In all of these newly allowable cases, there's usually a requirement to sprinkler the building and cap the number of homes per floor, among other life safety requirements. What I'm not clear on, though, is how flexible these new codes are in allowing larger apartment buildings.

In my opinion, it's better (and hopefully more accurate) to think about unit maximums on a _per stair basis_ as opposed to a _per floor basis_. Because that's how you create larger point-access block buildings: you cluster multiple blocks together, each with its own exit stair. Is that allowed in these building codes? I'm not _exactly_ sure, but one would hope.

Regardless of this important detail, I continue to be impressed by Austin's willingness to drive positive change in its housing market. It makes you wonder: What the hell is taking Toronto so long? Single-stair buildings up to 6 storeys should already be permissible. We should be leading.

_Cover photo by_ [_Clark Van Der Beken_](https://unsplash.com/@snapsbyclark?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash) _on_ [_Unsplash_](https://unsplash.com/photos/multicolored-graffiti-wall-Go6BN6FTEJo?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash)

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/austin-legalizes-single-stair-apartment-buildings-up-to-5-storeys)*