What federal proposal to put a cap on rent could mean for Kansas City

KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers issues in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. You can email her story ideas at rachel.henderson@kshb.com .

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The Biden administration says its proposed federal rent cap for corporate landlords is a part of a larger effort to make housing more affordable.

It released a statement Tuesday addressed to corporate landlords: “If you raise rents more than 5% on existing units, you should lose valuable tax breaks,” it read.

In the statement, Biden said families deserve affordable housing as a part of the “American Dream.”

“Rent is too high and buying a home is out of reach for too many working families and young Americans, after decades of failure to build enough homes,” the statement read. “I’m determined to turn that around.”

Lordly Aguilera’s career as a leasing agent taught her one thing.

Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41

“Rent is too high,” Aguilera said. “I worked in some apartments and people can't afford, always an eviction and things like that.”

She moved into her new home five months ago, but that was after years of renting, which began to add up.

“Just wasting my money paying rent is crazy, so I just decided to get a house,” Aguilera said.

Aguilera’s journey represents the end goal of what Biden says he wants to achieve, but that doesn’t mean it’s easily attainable.

“I think it's more targeted to probably to some of the coastal markets that have high, high levels of rent increases,” said Dan Moye, the vice president of Land Development with the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City. “In Kansas City, five percent would be pretty high for us.”

Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41

Moye oversees most of the incentive agencies that go through the EDC and provides tax abatements for those kinds of projects.

The EDC primarily handles multi-family housing, whether that’s low-income or market rate.

“Depending on who you talk to, we’ve got a gap of 10,000 housing units, so the market is still very ripe for a lot of new investment,” Moye said.

Moye says beyond landlords who have increased rent to counter inflation, Kansas City’s unlike a larger city that’s seeing rent increases for multiple reasons.

“We don’t really create bubbles, and we’re not driving rents insane curves, so I think we’re pretty safe from anything like that which makes that type of tool not as effective for us,” Moye said.

Still, the need for affordable housing remains, something Moye says requires an approach unique to the city.

“As we look and see a 10,000 unit shortage, the only way we can fill that is by building more,” Moye said. “It doesn't matter how much we're controlling rents in the meantime because there is so much slack.”

The federal proposal is a 2-year plan, campaign promise and something that’s impact still has yet to be determined. However, it does speak to an apparent need with a particular dream in mind.

Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41

“It feels nice to come home and say 'this is mine,' and look at it and say, 'oh it's beautiful,’” Aguilera said.

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