(Photo by: J. Stephen Conn/Flickr)

In 2022, the Kansas Legislature passed the Affordable Housing Tax Credit with bipartisan support. The program matched dollar-to-dollar money provided by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program, which helped provide access to affordable rental housing. However, after recent measures taken by the Kansas House of Representatives, the tax credits provided under the 2022 legislation will be cut, despite the 5,000 homes provided since the program’s inception.

Kansas has seen a significant increase in home prices over the last four years, with the price of a home climbing to around $300,000, an increase of $40,000 when compared to home prices in 2021. Much of this crisis has been spurred on by a housing shortage that can trace its origins to the collapse of the housing bubble in the 2008 recession. In 2005, Kansas saw 12,000 houses constructed. That number decreased to around 4,000 in 2010. Production levels never recovered from the recession, with only 5,000 homes being built each year since 2010. Moreover, most new houses constructed in Kansas are priced at around $350,000 when entering the market, a far cry from an affordable price for many first time home buyers.

The lack of affordable housing has also coincided with a concerning increase in the level of homelessness.  In 2024, there were estimated to be a total of 2,815 homeless across the state. However, that number is actually expected to be around three times higher due to the methodology used to count the homeless population in Kansas. The homeless are particularly impacted by the lack of affordable housing. Christina Ashie Guidry, Director of Policy & Planning United Community Services of Johnson County, says that “Unless we have enough housing supply, people who are experiencing homelessness now will take much longer on average to get housed and will be more likely again to fall back into homelessness.” The state is short around 100,000 total units of affordable housing, units that could be used to help aid the homeless population across the state.

With the cutting of tax credits, access to affordable housing for first time buyers and the homeless will be significantly restricted for the foreseeable future. In a testimony against the cutting of these credits, the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition went as far as saying that “we will undoubtedly see a significant spike in homelessness and housing instability.”

The removal of tax credits for affordable housing also has the potential to drive investors away from the state. Ryan Vincent, executive director of the state Housing Resources Corporation, explains that “Eliminating the KAHTC would send a negative message to current and potential investors, signaling that housing development is a risky prospect in our state. Potential partners will avoid investing in an uncertain environment.”

Representative Sean Tarwater of Kansas’ 27 District claims that the program has cost Kansans $1 billion and believes that the state’s focus should be on single family owned homes. However, single family homes fail to provide efficient housing options for those looking for more affordable options. Further investment into single family homes would also exacerbate the current issue of suburban sprawl facing the state.

Although the cost highlighted by Tartwater is significant, expecting results in the span of three years is simply unrealistic. Kansas is attempting to account for a housing deficit that has been accumulating since 2008. Programs like this need time so that developers can feel confident in the stability of the market and begin construction. Georgia for example implemented a similar program and between 2001 and 2019, the tax credits provided the state with a 529% return on investment, a staggering benefit to the state’s economy.

With tax credits already on the chopping block and with no program to help combat the housing crisis in Kansas, what can state and federal actors do to spur development across the state? Many are advocating for the amendment of zoning restrictions. State law currently requires zoning to be land-use, meaning the land must be zoned as residential or commercial, and only used for that purpose. Implementing form-based zoning, which allows residential and commercial to be mixed in the same zone, would help increase population density, drive down property taxes, and increase the affordability of housing. Additionally, sealing eviction filings would allow people in more tenuous housing situations more flexibility when searching for a place to live. When someone is behind on rent and sued by a landlord, that filing remains on their permanent record and often discourages tenants from leasing to them. 

Removal of these tax credits for the development of affordable housing, despite the high initial cost, will set Kansas back on the long road to account for a substantial housing deficit. If the state legislature aims to resolve this crisis, the reimplementation of tax credits, reevaluation of zoning laws, and changes to eviction filing visibility would go a long way in finally addressing the housing shortage, and providing some respite to the ever increasing homeless population in the state.