Kansas law cuts red tape, opens door for more housing

Topeka, Kansas; April 8, 2026: Kansas homebuilders and families priced out of the market won a major victory yesterday as Gov. Laura Kelly signed Senate Bill 418 into law, stripping away bureaucratic barriers that slow housing construction across the state. The new law requires local governments to quickly approve housing developments that already meet the criteria outlined in their zoning codes — including single-family homes, townhouses, and accessory dwelling units — without discretionary review.

“No longer can local governments use slow permitting and discretionary review to block the housing Kansans desperately need,” said Emily Amin, State Policy Counsel at Pacific Legal Foundation. “This law restores what should have never been taken away — the freedom to build. Kansas has shown that states can cut through red tape, and we hope other legislatures take note.”

Kansas has faced a persistent housing shortage, driven in part by local permitting delays that add cost and uncertainty to new construction. SB 418 also provides that rezoning to single-family residential is not subject to double, super-majority review through protest-petitions and allows for third-party review when government agencies fail to perform a required inspection within 15 days after it has been requested.

The new law tracks Pacific Legal Foundation’s By-Right Housing Development Act and Fair Zoning Act, model legislation that states across the country can adopt to streamline housing approvals and remove barriers to building.