KC is short 64,000 affordable homes. Mayor pitches idea to speed up construction
Kansas City could seek to jumpstart home construction with changes that would speed up permits and reduce fees, especially for affordable housing projects.
Mayor Quinton Lucas has filed a resolution that says regulation barriers can add costs to developers and make it harder to build at a time when the region faces a shortage of housing that’s affordable to residents with lower incomes: up to 64,000 units, according to a Mid-America Regional Council report.
The mayor proposes changes that could speed up permitting for residential projects to allow more, and faster, housing construction in Kansas City.
“Kansas City cannot solve its housing crisis without tackling the barriers that slow affordable development,” Lucas said in a statement. “My legislation takes aim at one of the (concerns we hear most) from potential residents and builders: permit delays and fees making affordable housing projects too costly and slow to pursue.”
Lucas said the proposals would let builders know that Kansas City is “open for business” when it comes to renovating and building homes that its families can afford.
If approved by the City Council, the resolution would direct the city manager to offer feedback on proposals meant to speed up the permit process for building housing, especially for affordable projects. Those include:
- For a qualified affordable housing project, geared toward residents with lower incomes, the city would need to review application permits within 15 days, and a permit would need to see action within 30 days, such as approval or denial.
- Other housing projects would need to see review within 30 days and see action within 60 days.
- Establish a single point of contact for affordable housing projects in the city who would help builders navigate the permit process.
The measure also requests that the city manager draft a plan to automatically reduce permit fees for affordable housing projects.
The City Council’s neighborhoods committee is expected to discuss the resolution next week. If passed by the full council, city staff would review the proposals and report back about them within 90 days.
Realtor association calls for pre-approved designs
The Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors, which represents area real estate professionals, called the mayor’s proposal “thoughtfully crafted” in a response provided to The Star.
However, the group called for more changes to expedite development, including creating more predictable standards for projects and working to speed up projects that reuse existing buildings.
In particular, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs James Toy told The Star, the group would like to see the city come up with pre-approved architectural plans — such as for homes on small lots, duplexes, cottages on vacant lots and secondary homes on lots with an existing house — that could reduce costs, speed up review and support first-time homeowners.
Such a system could be modeled after a program Overland Park started last fall, which seeks to make homebuilding easier with a selection of pre-designed, pre-approved designs and plans.
Overland Park is eyeing a partnership with Driven Development, a region nonprofit, to take advantage of the pre-designed home portfolio and develop new, more attainably-priced homes on city-owned land.
Mayor seeks more changes to encourage affordable housing construction
City Council members are also due to discuss a proposal by the mayor to revise rules for developers seeking tax breaks for housing projects, especially around fees for projects that don’t create a certain amount of affordable housing.
Those proposed changes seek to align city policies for incentives with those of the Port Authority of Kansas City, preventing “agency shopping” as developers have often appeared to opt for deals with Port KC over city-tied agencies.
Port KC has already passed its own changes related to fees as well as required wages for workers.
This story was originally published April 2, 2026 at 2:43 PM.