The long-awaited state housing and marketing report brought some pretty dismal news for Southeast Kansas.
It takes two incomes to afford a house here — if you can find one. Our housing stock is old with little to no new construction occurring.
And with Allen County’s major industries clamoring for more employees, the timing couldn’t be worse. The jobs are waiting, but people gotta have a place to live.
Is it a death sentence?
Only if we don’t do something about it.
RENTERS have it the hardest. Typically, apartments and houses are overpriced for what tenants can afford.
Wages in Allen County are significantly lower than the state average. The median income here is $45,333, compared to the state’s median of $50,597.
Affordable rentals here are often in disrepair.
Updated building codes, with teeth, would help ensure safe and clean living conditions. It’s untenable to think neighbors should worry about roaches because of one ill-kept abode, but there you have it, right here in Iola.
The same goes for the lack of inspections for plumbing and electricity.
We have entire blocks where people are living in homes without adequate, or worse, dangerous utilities, only because their landlords’ feet aren’t held to the fire.
As for available housing, it’s slim to none as the city continues to tear down eyesores. That may be a remedy to an unsightly building, but empty lots are nothing to crow about. A depleted inventory also means reduced income to the city from lost utilities and property taxes.
The better practice is to not let our housing stock get in such disrepair by letting vacant homes sit idle for years on end before they are finally put up for public auction.
In Allen County, such auctions are held every few years. Rain coming in a roof can do an awful lot of damage in that amount of time. More frequent sales would help make the properties not only more attractive, but more valuable.
Also, the current practice of expecting prospective buyers to pay the past due property taxes and utility bills of the previous owner is penny wise and pound foolish. Do you want to see these houses back on the tax rolls or not?
IT’S ALSO TIME for some creative thinking on how to beef up Iola’s housing stock and keep it looking attractive. Some cities, for example, make it a point to set aside funds for people to make small home repairs such as to repair broken windows or a dilapidated porch. Others have reserves dedicated to help pay for accessibility modifications for those with disabilities.
Some put skin in the game by providing tax abatements for improvements to homes as well as a means to spur new development.
In Lawrence, there’s a request on the table for the city to put $300,000 toward a new subdivision that would have 38 houses and duplexes. The project would include 20 affordable homes for purchase and 10 rentals, with the remaining more high end. The city would see a return on its investment in no time.
