Housing

Hundreds of unhoused people in Kansas City have been sleeping outside, even in the recent frigid temperatures. We asked them to explain — in their own words — why. Plus: sports betting will soon be available in Missouri, but public health experts worry about the effect online betting will have on gamblers' mental health.

More than 1,000 bills have been introduced in the Missouri General Assembly this session, but only a few will get passed and signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe. Housing, taxes and right-to-work proposals are all on the table.

KC Tenants say they want Healthy Homes to enforce consequences for landlords who fail to address health code violations. Kansas City Health Department representatives say all documented issues at Quality Hill Towers were resolved, but tenants report little to no improvements.

Following a slow year in the housing market, experts expect first-time Missouri homebuyers to have better prospects in 2025.

Your landlord is required by law to provide heat and utilities like hot water in cold weather. Here’s how to make sure that happens.

Tenant unions in Kansas City and Independence started a rent strike in October in response to deteriorating living conditions that went unaddressed by landlords. There have been some small improvements since, but residents have also experienced what they consider retaliation.

Home and rental prices have skyrocketed in recent years because of a housing shortage. That’s leading to a rise in homelessness and could be hurting the economy.

Using straw instead of typical insulation materials reduces a house’s carbon footprint, because straw absorbs carbon instead of emitting it. It's also highly energy efficient, can be sourced locally and is a natural agricultural byproduct of growing cereal grains.

Low-barrier homeless shelters open for the winter months starting Sunday, Dec. 1. With thousands of unhoused people in the Kansas City area and only a few hundred beds, many individuals will still be left out in the cold.

The program manager estimates around 50 landlord-tenant cases in Sedgwick County had been mediated as of late September, more than a year after the program begun. Meanwhile, the county typically sees around 5,000 eviction filings, or more, per year.

After Lenexa shot down Johnson County's plan to build a low-barrier homeless resources center, commissioners voted to use those federal funds instead on several other housing initiatives — including a Habitat for Humanity project and support for a cold weather shelter.

Johnson County has until the end of the year to spend $6 million of federal COVID relief funds that were originally bookmarked for a Lenexa homeless shelter. Johnson County Commission chair Mike Kelly wants that money to still go towards housing solutions.