UMSL Home Repair Study Published

From 2020-2022, researchers at UMSL worked alongside St. Louis City departments and the region’s largest home repair providers to shed light on a problem that, until now, has largely been hidden from public view: the enormous unmet need for home repairs in St. Louis.

Home repairs, when adequately funded, improve people’s physical and mental health as well as the overall quality of life. In addition, home repairs help to preserve affordable housing and our city’s historic architecture, stabilize neighborhoods, and prevent property abandonment while protecting hard-earned generational wealth through homeownership. In order to assess the full scale of the need, UMSL researchers adapted a national methodology that had yet to be expanded to mid-sized cities. The toolkit linked details the unique and accessible methodology and provides information for other cities who may want to replicate a similar assessment. 

Read The Full Report

This report was produced by the  Community Innovation and Action Center at the University of Missouri, St. Louis with funding provided by RRF Foundation for Aging and the St. Louis City Senior Fund. The report itself was prepared by the Community Innovation and Action Center with help from our Home Repair Partners and was published in May 2023.