Boost in state funding chips away at housing shortage

A 2021 study confirmed Kansas has an insufficient supply of reasonably priced housing. Efforts are underway to address the problem.

TOPEKA — Mollea Wainscott and Matt Gillam grapple with the state’s shortage of affordable, quality housing from vantage points in the rural hub of Ford County and the congested urban center of Johnson County.

Geography, business fundamentals and population density differs across the 325-mile expanse between those counties, but Wainscott and Gillam understood what a statewide study confirmed in 2021: Kansas had an insufficient supply of reasonably priced housing.

The crisis undermined quality of life. It restrained economic growth. The state’s workforce deficit in the housing industry ironically contributed to lack of housing for people considering a move to Kansas for job opportunities.

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