A Kansas city voted unanimously to ban co-living in rental units, effectively making roommates illegal

• Shawnee, Kansas unanimously banned co-living, concentrating on unrelated roommates who cut up the price of lease.

• Throughout the nation, individuals have turned to roommates to counteract the rising price of leases and housing.

• Lease within the Shawnee space has risen by over 11% since 2019, in accordance with The Washington Submit.

A metropolis in Kansas has banned co-living, successfully making it unlawful to have a bunch of unrelated roommates cut up the price of lease.

Shawnee, positioned in Johnson County, unanimously voted early final week to ban the residing association in an 8-0 vote by the Metropolis Council, The Kansas Metropolis Star reported.

As rental and housing costs have climbed throughout the nation, individuals have turned to roommates to assist steadiness the associated fee.

The Shawnee ordinance stated a bunch of individuals is co-living if it consists of at the very least 4 adults who’re unrelated. Just one grownup must be unrelated for the complete group to be labeled as unrelated, in accordance with the Kansas Metropolis Star.

“Metropolis Employees acquired enter and considerations from residents and Metropolis Council members relating to a comparatively new pattern the place single household houses are being bought and transformed into rental items with a number of particular person tenants,” a memorandum of the ordinance stated.

“On this association, particular person tenants have leases of various lengths, have separate secured entry to their rooms, and infrequently have no idea or have relationships with the others who’re additionally occupying the identical single household dwelling,” the memo continued, saying the rental preparations are “not typical of widespread rental makes use of in single household districts which are occupied by household items.”

The town council didn’t instantly return Insider’s request for touch upon Sunday.

The ban got here regardless of knowledge offered in a housing examine that demonstrated the common dwelling worth in Johnson County rose 37% between 2017 and 2021, from $324,393 to $443,700, in accordance with the Kansas Metropolis Star. The housing examine referred to the worth rise as a well being fairness challenge, noting that wages didn’t rise on the similar price.

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“Again and again, what rose to the floor was the price of housing was the factor that was impacting individuals’s capability to be wholesome,” stated Kristy Baughman, director of schooling and planning for United Group Providers of Johnson County, per the Kansas Metropolis Star.

In accordance with a 2022 Washington Submit evaluation, lease in Johnson County has risen by 11.4% simply since 2019. The common lease paid was $1,263.

A part of the Kansas Metropolis metropolitan space, Shawnee had a inhabitants of over 65,000 in 2019.

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