Harris County building & ADU permits
Recent permit activity, updated continuously.
Harris County is the third most populous county in the United States and surrounds Houston. Its permit office publishes issued residential permits for the unincorporated county, which is where most of the metro's new tract housing is built — the City of Houston itself does not publish an equivalent open feed.
Igni is tracking 1,561 residential and building permits in Harris County, TX. The most active ZIP is 77493. The most recent filing Igni tracked was Oct 30, 2026. All records come from Harris County Permit Office (ArcGIS), an official government open-data feed, and are refreshed continuously.
1561
Permits tracked
0
ADU permits
28
Distinct ZIP codes
Oct 30, 2026
Newest permit
Recent permits
A sample of the freshest permits in this jurisdiction — ZIP and city only (no street addresses).
| ZIP | Permit type | ADU type | Valuation | Applied |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77484 | Residential | — | — | Oct 28, 2026 |
| 77521 | Residential | — | — | Oct 16, 2026 |
| 77090 | Residential | — | — | Oct 29, 2026 |
| 77433 | Residential | — | — | Oct 29, 2026 |
| 77015 | Residential | — | — | Oct 29, 2026 |
| 77070 | Residential | — | — | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 77433 | Residential | — | — | Oct 28, 2026 |
| 77070 | Residential | — | — | Oct 29, 2026 |
| 77484 | Residential | — | — | Oct 28, 2026 |
| 77070 | Residential | — | — | Oct 29, 2026 |
| 77037 | Residential | — | — | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 77037 | Residential | — | — | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 77484 | Residential | — | — | Oct 28, 2026 |
| 77493 | Residential | — | — | Jul 20, 2026 |
| 77429 | Residential | — | — | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 77373 | Residential | — | — | Oct 29, 2026 |
| 77484 | Residential | — | — | Oct 28, 2026 |
| 77377 | Residential | — | — | Oct 29, 2026 |
| 77377 | Residential | — | — | Oct 29, 2026 |
| 77433 | Residential | — | — | Oct 28, 2026 |
Top ZIP codes by recent activity
Permit activity in Harris County
Igni counted 14,754 permits issued in Harris County over the last 12 months (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026) — roughly flat (+0.5%) on the 14,681 in the 12 months before. The forecast expects about 7,395 over the next 6 months.
Forecast: seasonal naive, typical error ±16% in backtests one to six months ahead. How we forecast
| Permit type | Last 12 months | Year over year | Forecast, next 6 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 14,754 | Flat (+0.5%) | ≈ 7,395 |
| Residential building | 12,841 | Down 4.1% | ≈ 6,093 |
| Commercial building | 0 | — | — |
| Trade (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) | 1,913 | —* | — |
| ADU | 0 | — | — |
* No year-over-year figure: the source's volume for this permit type stepped up within the last two years — likely a change in what the city publishes — so the two 12-month windows are not comparable.
Monthly figures
| Month | Permits | 10th–90th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2023 | 1,154 | — |
| Nov 2023 | 1,011 | — |
| Dec 2023 | 911 | — |
| Jan 2024 | 1,205 | — |
| Feb 2024 | 1,363 | — |
| Mar 2024 | 1,139 | — |
| Apr 2024 | 1,664 | — |
| May 2024 | 1,356 | — |
| Jun 2024 | 1,421 | — |
| Jul 2024 | 1,131 | — |
| Aug 2024 | 1,375 | — |
| Sep 2024 | 1,262 | — |
| Oct 2024 | 1,671 | — |
| Nov 2024 | 1,030 | — |
| Dec 2024 | 955 | — |
| Jan 2025 | 1,367 | — |
| Feb 2025 | 1,137 | — |
| Mar 2025 | 1,446 | — |
| Apr 2025 | 1,196 | — |
| May 2025 | 1,195 | — |
| Jun 2025 | 1,252 | — |
| Jul 2025 | 1,221 | — |
| Aug 2025 | 1,112 | — |
| Sep 2025 | 1,099 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 1,242 | — |
| Nov 2025 | 1,132 | — |
| Dec 2025 | 811 | — |
| Jan 2026 | 1,233 | — |
| Feb 2026 | 1,278 | — |
| Mar 2026 | 1,663 | — |
| Apr 2026 | 1,368 | — |
| May 2026 | 1,369 | — |
| Jun 2026 | 1,158 | — |
| Jul 2026 | 1,499 | — |
| Aug 2026 | 908 | — |
| Sep 2026 | 1,093 | — |
| Oct 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 1,248 | 1,034–1,572 |
| Nov 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 1,138 | 952–1,447 |
| Dec 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 815 | 700–1,047 |
| Jan 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 1,239 | 1,072–1,610 |
| Feb 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 1,284 | 1,147–1,724 |
| Mar 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 1,671 | 1,493–2,260 |
Counts are permits issued per calendar month as Harris County publishes them to its open-data feed — not a complete census; a change in what the city publishes moves them too. The current month is left out, and the most recent months are provisional. A forecast is a statistical estimate with a range, not a prediction for any project. Informational only.
How long do permits take in Harris County?
Based on 39,309 Harris County permits applied for between Nov 2023 and Aug 2026, the typical (median) permit was issued 3 days after application, and the middle half of permits took 1–8 days. One in ten took longer than 21 days.
| Permit type | Median | Typical range | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 3 days | 1–8 days | 39,309 |
| Residential building | 3 days | 1–7 days | 35,054 |
| Trade (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) | 3 days | 0–10 days | 4,255 |
Typical, not guaranteed: individual permits vary with project scope, application completeness and plan-review workload. Days are calendar days from application to issuance; applications still pending are counted as not-yet-issued rather than dropped. Informational only, not legal advice. How we calculate approval times.
Housing law — Texas
Texas has no statewide zoning or ADU mandate, so accessory-dwelling rules are set city-by-city; a 2025 statewide ADU-by-right bill did not become law. Austin's HOME reforms now allow up to three units on most single-family lots.
Reform is local: Austin's HOME initiative cut minimum lot sizes and allowed more units per lot, while 2025 state laws eased lot-size minimums and commercial-to-residential conversions.
Data source
Sourced from Harris County Permit Office (ArcGIS). Public records (TX PIA).
Nearby cities — Texas
Learn more about ADUs & building permits
Background reading on accessory dwelling units, building permits, and how Igni turns Harris County permit records into leads.
Harris County permit data — FAQ
Where does Igni get Harris County permit data?
How fresh is Harris County permit data?
How long does it take to get a building permit in Harris County?
Is construction activity growing in Harris County?
Does Harris County allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs)?
Get permit leads — Harris County
Fresh, filterable residential and ADU permit leads from Harris County — delivered before your competitors even know.
Informational only, not legal advice. Headline counts reflect all permits Igni has tracked for this jurisdiction; the table shows recent activity. Housing law changes — verify current statutes before relying on this.