Issue Position: Housing

Issue Position

Access to quality housing is a necessity for all Kansans, but in too many rural communities an aging and deteriorating housing stock is the reality. A lack of quality housing -- and the resulting loss of population -- creates a ripple effect on schools, businesses, and local governments. The Kelly Administration will focus on improving rural housing:

Provide tax credits to encourage the development of upper-floor housing in rural downtowns. Main streets aren't just the emotional hearts of small communities; they're also part of the solution to rural housing needs. By incentivizing the construction of upper floor apartments on commercial corridors, local investors can breathe new life into historic buildings while bringing vitality back to main street. These new residents living upstairs can, in turn, help support small-scale retail uses in ground floor spaces that too often sit vacant today.

Work with community foundations. Community foundations are vital to providing local solutions to local problems. They can and should take a leading role in working with state government, industry leaders and others to make targeted housing investments that are tailored to the specific needs of local communities. This could include using impact investing to finance new/rehab housing; supporting local building trades programs in high schools; and making targeted grants to conduct housing needs assessments.

Encourage colleges to develop housing in downtown areas. Thousands of rural Kansas community college and university students live in student housing on campus. The Kelly Administration will incentivize partnerships between higher ed, local governments and private developers to construct new student housing in downtown corridors, rather than on campus, just as Pittsburg State University and the city of Pittsburg have done with the "Block 22" project.

Develop new programs for community-based organizations to educate first-time homebuyers on the importance of building equity through homeownership; methods and programs to support saving for down payments; and methods to improve credit scores.

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