By-Right Housing Development Act
Summary
The Kansas State Legislature enacted SB418, the By-Right Housing Development Act, establishing a streamlined permit approval process for qualifying residential developments. The bill allows third-party review of construction documents, requires political subdivisions to accept certain building provisions for single-family residences, and treats all residentially-zoned land within city limits as single-family residential. The legislation excludes owner-initiated rezoning to single-family residential from protest petition provisions.
What changed
Kansas has enacted the By-Right Housing Development Act (SB418), creating a new streamlined permitting pathway for housing developments meeting certain criteria. The act authorizes third-party review of development documents and inspections, mandates that political subdivisions accept specific building provisions for single-family residences of designated sizes, and expands what qualifies as single-family residential zoning within city limits.
Local governments and political subdivisions in Kansas must prepare to implement the new streamlined permit process and adjust their zoning procedures. Developers undertaking residential construction should review whether their projects qualify for by-right development status and third-party review. The bill takes effect upon the Governor's signature, with no specific compliance deadline or penalty provisions stated in the enrolled version.
What to do next
- Review new by-right housing development criteria to determine project eligibility
- Update local permit procedures to accommodate third-party review processes
- Modify zoning compliance processes to align with expanded single-family residential definitions
Source document (simplified)
ChangeBridge / Kansas / SB418 Enrolled SB418 Senate Bill Enrolled 2026-04-09
Enacting the by-right housing development act to provide a streamlined permit approval process for by-right housing developments, allowing third-party review of new residential construction development documents and inspection of improvements, requiring political subdivisions to allow certain building provisions for certain single-family residences of a certain size, excluding owner initiated rezoning to a single-family residential district from protest petition provisions and providing for all land within the corporate limits of a city that is zoned for any type of residential use to be considered zoned for single-family residential use.
Bill Details
State Kansas
Session 2025-2026 Regular Session
Chamber Senate
Official Source kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/sb418/
LegiScan View on LegiScan
Sponsors
TJ Rose (Sen - R) Ty Masterson (Sen - R)
Action History
2026-04-09 S Senate Enrolled and presented to Governor on Monday, March 30, 2026 2026-03-27 S Senate Conference Committee Report was adopted; Yea: 35 Nay: 4 2026-03-26 H House Conference Committee Report was adopted; Yea: 117 Nay: 5 2026-03-26 H House Conference committee report now available 2026-03-23 H House Motion to accede adopted; Representative Tarwater, Representative Ward and Representative Sawyer Clayton appointed as conferees 2026-03-23 S Senate Nonconcurred with amendments; Conference Committee requested; appointed Senator Alley , Senator Owens and Senator Faust Goudeau as conferees 2026-03-18 H House Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea: 97 Nay: 27 2026-03-18 H House Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended 2026-03-18 H House Committee of the Whole - Amendment by Representative Hoheisel was adopted 2026-03-18 H House Committee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by Representative Hoheisel 2026-03-18 H House Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted 2026-03-11 H House Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development 2026-03-04 H House Hearing: Wednesday, March 4, 2026, 1:30 PM Room 346-S 2026-02-24 H House Referred to Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development 2026-02-24 H House Received and Introduced 2026-02-18 S Senate Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea: 35 Nay: 5 2026-02-17 S Senate Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended 2026-02-17 S Senate Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted 2026-02-16 S Senate Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by Committee on Commerce 2026-02-03 S Senate Hearing: Tuesday, February 3, 2026, 1:30 PM Room 159-S 2026-02-03 S Senate Hearing: Tuesday, February 3, 2026, 1:30 PM Room 159-S 2026-01-29 S Senate Referred to Committee on Commerce 2026-01-28 S Senate Introduced
Votes
2026-02-18 Senate Final Action - Passed as amended - Yea: 35 Nay: 5 Yea: 35 Nay: 5 2026-03-18 House Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended - Yea: 97 Nay: 27 Yea: 97 Nay: 27 2026-03-26 House Conference Committee Report was adopted - Yea: 117 Nay: 5 Yea: 117 Nay: 5 2026-03-27 Senate Conference Committee Report was adopted - Yea: 35 Nay: 4 Yea: 35 Nay: 4
Committee Referrals
2026-01-29 S Commerce 2026-02-24 H Commerce, Labor and Economic Development
Amendments
2026-02-16 Senate Committee on Commerce Report 2026-03-11 House Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development Report 2026-03-18 House Floor Amendment (Committee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by Representative Hoheisel) 2026-03-26 Conference Committee Report
Bill Text Versions
2026-01-28 Introduced 0000-00-00 Amended 0000-00-00 Amended 0000-00-00 Amended 2026-04-09 Enrolled Legislative data powered by LegiScan (CC BY 4.0)
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