Believe it or not, many properties in the Heights are deed restricted.  They may or may not be within the East or West Historic Districts of the Houston Heights.  The Heights Deed Restrictions may be placed on a property by the owner only or you may purchase a property that has been deed restricted by a previous owner. 

You may see a list of deed restricted properties at http://www.houstonheights.org/deedrestrictedproperties.htm.  It is updated periodically.

The Deed Restrictions are not placed on an entire block once 75% of the owners have signed them - not to be confused with City of Houston building lines and setbacks which may be done this way.  You may also place these deed restrictions on  your property even if it does not currently conform to them and the restrictions will apply to all new construction on the property but structures currently there will be "grandfathered".

An abbreviated version (my abbreviated version - if you are doing something with deed restrictions, see the link for the official document) of the deed restrictions is below, or you may download the entire pdf document at http://www.houstonheights.org/pdf/drdpdf.pdf.

These deed restrictions are superceded by Section 207.008 of the Texas Property Code - so if you plan on doing something, make sure you look there also.

-Property shall be used for residential purposes.  Any business or commercial use is incidental to the primary residential use and the general public is not invited.

-Signage is not allowed except for temporary signs not more than 5 feet square advertising the property for sale or rent, or signage for political or garage sale purposes and plaques or markers or other types of designation erected or affixed on the Property awarded by federal, state, or municipal government or a civic association.

-New construction or additions to the Property shall be constructed with at least 3 feet from the property line on the sides and rear and 15 feet on the front.  The roof overhang shall extend no farther than halfway into any side or back setback area.  Corner lot properties have a minimum of a 10 feet setback on the side that faces the street.  The front of a corner lot property has the same 15 feet minimum setback. 

-New construction must be constructed so that its main entrance is incorporated into the elevation of the residence that faces a street.

-The height of the Property from ground level shall not be more than 40 feet for all property widths of 50 feet or less (from side property line to side property line).  This does not include architectural embellishments that do not constitute living area, such as chimneys, steeples and towers, and that are each of a circumference of less than 36 feet.  For properties wider than 50 feet, refer to the document link above. 

-Common wall construction prohibited.

-No garage shall be constructed closer to the front property line of the Property than the midway point between the front property line and the rear property line, nor shall it be constructed where it is closer to the front property line than the face elevation of the residence.   If the garage is part of the structure of the residence, the garage door and frame shall not comprise more than half the width of the 1st floor of the structure's front elevation.

-Each Residence shall be constructed with a foundation that raises the bottom floor at least 2 feet from ground elevation.  This does not include the garage.

-Each Residence shall have a minimum street frontage of at least 50 feet.  If the front property line is already less than 50 feet, refer to the document link above.

-No Residence shall be constructed on the Property if the consequence would be a density of greater than 1 Residence for every 5,000 square feet of property.  Any garage apartment is not included in this "Residence" square footage.  If the square footage of the property is less than 5,000 square feet, refer to the document link above.

-No Property shall be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish or trash and no garbage or other waste shall be kept except in sanitary containers.
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