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Houston building permits list: what the city publishes

Updated · Rotomal

Houston does not publish individual building permits as open data. When we checked on 29 October 2026, the city's open-data portal had one building-permit dataset: a spreadsheet of residential permit counts by month, whose latest month is December 2025 (file updated 1 May 2026). For permit-level lists, the Houston Permitting Center says it publishes weekly Permit Activity Reports of new construction, remodel and change-of-use permits by ZIP code. For anything else, you can request the records under the Texas Public Information Act.

What Houston's open-data portal has

A search of data.houstontx.gov for "permit" on 29 October 2026 returned nine datasets. The only building-permit one is "City of Houston Residential Building Permits by Month and Year": a single spreadsheet with year, month, single-family, multi-family and residential totals, from January 2004 to December 2025. The other eight cover vehicle, loading-zone and dumpster permits, an alcohol permit project and a fee schedule, all last updated in June 2023. None lists the address or contractor of a building permit.

Yearly totals from the city's file, using its own column labels:

YearSingle familyMulti-family
20217,1537,716
20226,7428,913
20236,1839,414
20246,7144,709
20254,7857,248

Weekly Permit Activity Reports by ZIP code

The Houston Permitting Center has announced Permit Activity Reports that list new construction, remodel and change-of-use permits by ZIP code, so residents can follow development near them. It says reports dated before 1 December 2025 remain on the Planning and Development Department's Development Reports page, which archives earlier weekly Permit e-Reports as Word documents.

Both city sites refused our automated connection on 29 October 2026, so this description comes from the city's announcement and page listings as they appear in search results, not from opening a report ourselves.

Other ways to get Houston permit records

  • Weekly reports: use them as your list, and expect to retype or parse each one, since they are documents rather than data files.
  • Public records request: under the Texas Public Information Act (Government Code chapter 552) you can ask the City of Houston for existing records, for example permits issued in your ZIP codes over a date range. This is not legal advice; the city can tell you its process and any charges.
  • A volunteer project: its author writes that since 2018 an automated job has downloaded Houston's weekly building permit summary data, which the project maps (page published June 2021).
  • The Census Building Permits Survey: monthly residential counts for Houston as a permit-issuing place, useful for trends but without addresses.
  • Paid national permit datasets: check their Houston coverage and how recent it is before you buy.

Why Houston is a gap for permit lead services

Low-cost permit alert services resell cities that publish open data. On 29 October 2026, PingPermit's list of 19 markets and PermitLeads.us's four cities (Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis and Chicago) did not include Houston. Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio do publish permit data; our building permit data sources guide lists them.

Getting Houston permits from Permit Weekly

Permit Weekly is built for places like Houston, where permits are public but not published as data. Send your trade and ZIP codes: within 2 business days we tell you what we can cover in Houston and how soon, and we only sell a metro once coverage is live.

Questions

Does Houston have open data for building permits?

Only counts. The city portal's building-permit dataset gives monthly residential permit counts, with December 2025 as the latest month when we checked on 29 October 2026. It does not list individual permits.

Where can I see new building permits in my Houston ZIP code?

In the city's weekly Permit Activity Reports, which list new construction, remodel and change-of-use permits by ZIP code, according to the Houston Permitting Center.

Can I request Houston building permit records?

Yes. Under the Texas Public Information Act you can ask the City of Houston for existing records, such as permits issued in a ZIP code and date range. This is not legal advice; the city's public information office can tell you its process and any charges.

How many residential permits does Houston issue?

The city's monthly file reports 4,785 single-family and 7,248 multi-family for 2025, using the file's own labels.

Sources

Guides and answers