Housing Insecurity

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen passed a bill that revises the city’s zoning code for shelters and transitional housing. Proponents say this will streamline the permitting process and give the city greater tools to address problematic shelters.

ArchCity Defenders plans to help thousands of people in the St. Louis region who are experiencing housing insecurity or need help navigating the justice system. It released a guide to help renters find adequate and safe housing in Missouri and information on expunging criminal records.

It’s a familiar rule: People should not spend more than 30% of their income on housing. But for many who rent in St. Louis, that percentage has long been higher.

Dozens of students at Hazelwood Southeast Middle School were handed disenrollment letters and shown the door at Hazelwood Southeast Middle School in recent weeks.

Attorneys say the defendants preyed on vulnerable people by renting rooms in condemned buildings and in properties without permits to serve as rooming houses.

Since the 2018-19 school year, the Hazelwood School District has sharply increased its rate of investigating student residency eightfold, deploying a team of employees who can use intrusive tactics.

Animal shelters in St. Louis and across the country have long owner surrender waitlists due to people facing evictions or lack of affordable, pet-friendly housing.

The Board of Aldermen returns in September, when a handful of bills designed to help tenants are likely to be introduced.

A recent study found military families are spending more time and money to find a place to live when they change duty stations.

St. Louis officials stressed last spring that two downtown tent encampments posed a threat to public health, eventually relocating residents to temporary housing across the city. An investigation by St. Louis Public Radio in collaboration with APM Reports has found the city may have put residents in harm's way by placing them at hotels with a history of criminal violence, drug activity and unsanitary living conditions.