The St. Louis Housing Conservation program may not be the most appealing topic for a blog post. Yet, it serves as an important and valuable resource in maintaining our wonderful city neighborhoods. Currently, the housing conservation program covers almost 90% of the City of St. Louis.

Created to identify property maintenance issues before they become significant health
and safety hazards, the program has played a key part in reducing
the amount of lead in city homes.

How exactly does the city housing conservation program work?

Each time there is a change in tenancy or property ownership within a conservation
district, a building inspector is required to visit and inspect the property. As a property
owner, it has been my experience that these inspections usually last no longer than 15
minutes. The friendly inspector examines smoke detectors to make sure they are
functioning, checks windows to ensure they are operable, completes a visual inspection
for peeling paint and occupancy overcrowding and takes a look at
electrical wiring for the prevention of electrical fires. Once the
inspection is completed, the owner receives a certificate of
compliance. The inspection fees in a housing conservation district
range from $70.00 to $110.00 for unoccupied and occupied
buildings.

The inspector’s responsibility in a housing conservation district is
to ensure that the property is safe and habitable for occupancy.
Living in a housing conservation district, provides an additional
layer of security for city residents by ensuring that the St. Louis city government is doing
all it can to maintain and preserve a healthy housing stock.

Currently, the majority of the 6th Ward is located within a housing conservation district.
Only the 6th Ward portion of the Lafayette Square neighborhood, and apartments owned
by the St. Louis Housing Authority (which have their own stringent requirements for
property maintenance) are not. Please let me know what you think about the St. Louis
Housing Conservation program. Should it be expanded to cover additional areas? You
can leave me a comment below.

Also, I hope that you will join me for an important community meeting featuring
our city Assessor, Ed Bushmeyer, May 19th at 6:30pm at the Stray Dog Theatre,
located at 2348 Tennessee. Hopeful that you will see a reduction in your property
assessment because of the decline in the housing market? Make sure you come to
the meeting and get answers to all your questions.