Rob Sand, current state auditor and Democratic candidate for governor, said simplifying inspections and cutting red tape that stands in the way of building new housing will help improve affordability. 

Sand spoke Thursday morning at the Frank W. Smith Retirement Center, a recently renovated affordable housing building for seniors in Des Moines, after touring a unit and speaking with a resident. 

Lowering housing costs is one of the points in Sand's recently released "Affordability for All" plan that also looks at potential policies to reduce the cost of healthcare, education and energy in the state.

"We have people who want to be in Iowa, and they're struggling to pay the bills, and one of the biggest issues that they're oftentimes facing is housing," Sand said.

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The retirement center was initiated by the nearby First Church of the Open Bible in Beaverdale during the 1990s, but Sam Erickson, the CEO of the nonprofit affordable housing developer Community Housing Initiatives, said it had fallen into disrepair. Community Housing Initiatives was asked to step in and help renovate the facility. Erickson said a subsidy helps to ensure the cost to live at the retirement center is capped at 30% of a resident's income. 

"This property actually exemplifies the importance of affordable housing," Erickson said. "All of us coming together, collaborating to meet the needs of seniors, particularly for people that are on very low incomes." 

Sand said nonprofit models like Community Housing Initiatives and land trusts can be "incredibly effective" at making housing costs affordable. 

"To me, the bottom line is that I think we need to have state government be refocused on the issues that are impacting 100% of Iowans: costs, corruption, cancer – and housing is a huge piece of the affordability question for most Iowans," Sand said. 

Sand's policy proposal includes steps to "cut the bureaucratic red tape" that makes it more difficult, cost more and take longer to build more homes and other housing types like duplexes or accessory dwelling units. 

For example, Sand said Thursday, inspectors should have the authority to approve things required by municipal and state inspections so that developers aren't waiting so long on inspections.

In 2025 the Legislature passed a law to make it easier for Iowans to add accessory dwelling units to their properties. Sand said there's still work to be done to ensure the "spirit" of this law is followed, that local regulations don't overcomplicate these types of buildings to the point where they do not actually get built. 

While "cutting red tape" has been a common theme among Republican policies in Iowa and federally, Sand said there's always room to "take it another step, two more steps, continue moving in that direction." 

His housing proposals also include protecting Iowans against price "gouging" from artificial intelligence models and creating interest-free down payment assistance programs for first-time homebuyers. 

Sand's opponent, Zach Lahn, has also proposed tax rebates that would help with a down payment on a home for young Iowans who stay in the state.

The "Affordability for All" plan from Sand includes efforts to reduce energy costs, including a cap on service or meter fees for utilities, a call to expand electric grid capacity, ratemaking transparency and a push for more affordable renewable energy. 

The plan also includes a renewed call to end the privatization of Medicaid in Iowa. Sand said Thursday he thinks "nonprofit-based managed care" would be a better solution to provide Iowans with healthcare coverage. Sand said he would also like to "cap" insulin costs for Iowans and expand laws that protect against "surprise" medical bills. 

The final pillar of Sand's affordability plan includes providing universal free school meals – which he said could be paid for with federal funds – and providing universal, free all-day pre-kindergarten for Iowans. The latter, he said, could be paid for by putting income limits back on the state's private school voucher system which Sand has criticized while serving as auditor.

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