Housing

Left in the cold: These Houston residents report lack of safe, reliable heating in winter

Early results from a Kinder Institute survey show 12% of Harris County residents don’t have safe, reliable heat at home.

Are corporate buyers hogging single-family homes in Harris County? Here’s what the data shows.

A Kinder Institute analysis shows nine large companies own about 1% of single-family homes in Harris County.

Urban Edge’s most-read stories in 2025: Public housing, population growth articles top the list

These seven Urban Edge articles garnered the most reader interest in a busy year for Houston.

Houston’s committee for enforcing apartment standards sits dormant. Will City Council revive it?

On a typical day in Houston, the city’s 311 helpline receives roughly 10 complaints about busted pipes, broken heaters, stinky sewage and other predicaments plaguing apartments.

City staff route the calls to health, neighborhoods, solid waste and other departments to tackle problems. But several City Council members are looking to proactively hold landlords accountable for operating the area’s most run-down complexes — and they’re eyeing a long-dormant committee to make it happen.

Shoddy AC, pesky cockroaches, thin insulation: Study gives early insight into common Houston housing issues

Houston’s housing problems aren’t limited to affordability and vulnerability to storms. 

Early findings from the Kinder Institute’s ongoing Housing Quality Registry suggest unreliable heating and cooling, persistent pests and damaging leaks rank among the most common housing issues afflicting Houstonians.