Housing affordability bill aims to expand homeownership options in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A housing affordability bill is taking aim at soaring housing prices that experts say have made buying a home increasingly difficult over the last six years.
Tyanna Smith, a resident at Oak Park Townhomes, said she came to Kansas City from homelessness after leaving a domestic violence situation in Arizona.
“I just came from Arizona from a DV situation, so I’m very grateful,” Smith said.
Smith said the path to stable housing is difficult for many people trying to rent.
“Oh it’s hard. Cuz they want three times rent and… that’s what makes it hard. They want the three times of rent and they ain’t got the three times. You can only really afford the rent and whatever else you got,” Smith said.
The housing affordability bill aims to address the problem from multiple angles, pushing cities to loosen zoning rules, expanding manufactured housing options, and creating grants to convert vacant buildings into homes.
Will Ruder, Executive Vice President of the KC Home Builders Association, said the issue goes beyond policy.
“There’s got to be that possibility of home ownership. Like a real possibility. Not just, oh just stop buying coffee and stop going out to eat and you’ll be able to afford a house. It’s much more complicated than that,” Ruder said.
Ruder said the math on entry-level homes remains a barrier.
“Now we’re talking about starter homes in the 350, 400, 450 range? That’s not a starter home,” Ruder said.
Ruder said the bill sends the right message but cautioned against viewing housing purely as a financial asset.
“I think too often housing is referred to as a form of an investment. I think that really deteriorates that real role that housing plays in someone’s life,” Ruder said.
For Smith, stable housing carries personal weight.
“I’m very grateful. I came from homelessness, so,” Smith said.
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver helped lead the legislation and has done extensive work on American housing policy. He believes this bill will help change the trajectory of homeownership nationwide.
“This is the most consequential bill by all measures, any political measure, that we’ve had in Washington, in almost the last half century,” said Cleaver.
Cleaver is a supporter of manufactured housing. Cleaver acknowledged that these types of homes haven’t always had the best reputation, but he says that they have been engineered to a point where they are safe and effective in society.
He hopes that this bill will illustrate the benefits of both political parties working together.
“Americans now believe, for the first time in years, that maybe, just maybe, this was an example of what can be done over and over again,” said Cleaver.
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