A city in Kansas has banned co- living, which makes it illegal to have a group of unrelated roommates split the cost of rent.
The Kansas City Star reported that the City Council in Johnson County unanimously voted to ban the living arrangement.
People have turned to roommates to help balance the cost of living as rental and housing prices have gone up.
If there are at least four unrelated adults in the group, it is considered co- living. According to the Kansas City Star, only one adult needs to be unrelated for the entire group to be classified as unrelated.
The City Staff received input and concerns from residents and City Council members regarding a relatively new trend where single family homes are being purchased and converted into rental units with multiple individual tenants.
In this arrangement, individual tenants have leases of varying lengths, have separate secured access to their rooms, and often do not know or have relationships with the others who are also occupying the same single family dwelling, according to a memo.
Insider did not get a reply from the city council on Sunday.
According to the Kansas City Star, the average home price in Johnson County rose from $324,393 to $443,700 over the course of two years, despite the ban. Wages did not rise at the same rate as the price, which was referred to as a health equity issue by the housing study.
The director of education and planning for United Community Services of Johnson County said that the cost of housing was impacting people's ability to be healthy.
Rent in Johnson County has gone up by 11.4% in the last year. The average rent was over $1,200.
Shawnee had a population of over 67,000 in 2019.
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