Housing & Homelessness

A plywood platform on the dirt ground, surrounded by canvas tents

Nonprofit to close South LA ‘safe sleep’ site this week, citing insufficient funding

The Lincoln Safe Sleep Village is set to close Saturday. The site provided unhoused people with tents, meals, bathrooms and security.

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LA County considers plans to remove unhoused people and clear encampments around Olympic venues

An aerial view of audience stands and a grassy field. Buildings are in the distance behind the arena.

Shirley Raines, founder of LA nonprofit Beauty 2 the Streetz, has died

Shirley Raines posing in front of a colorful "TikTok House Party" step-and-repeat backdrop. She is wearing a vibrant, black blazer dress covered in eclectic, neon-colored patches and graphic prints. She has her hand on her hip and is looking directly at the camera with a confident smile.

LA-area hotline gets thousands of calls during winter storms, but can offer few shelter resources

A man in a wheelchair is tucked next to the side of a building, seeking shelter from rain falling on the city in front of him. A few people can be seen walking down the sidewalk with umbrellas and rain coats.

California bill seeks to set new standards for cleaning homes after toxic fires

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A dark layer of ash from the Eaton Fire is visible on a windowsill that held potted plants. Health officials have said this ash potentially contains lead, asbestos and arsenic.

More Stories

100-plus cities, including in SoCal, banned homeless camping this year. But will it work?

The burst of new laws follows a landmark Supreme Court ruling and reflects public frustration with record-high homelessness. But advocates say fines and jail time will only make the problem worse.

Listen 4:14
LA tenants are facing rent hikes of up to 6%; city officials recommend lower caps

The L.A. City Council has failed to vote on new rent control limits ahead of a looming Feb. 1 deadline. Should increases be put on hold?
LA loses third effort to block affordable housing in some neighborhoods

Judge rules L.A. illegally tried to change the rules for a program to streamline affordable housing in neighborhoods with single-family homes.
New California law could help tenants facing eviction stay in their homes

Voters said no to expanded rent control, but tenants facing evictions will have more time to fight to keep their homes under a new law.
LA's homelessness agency handles $700M in contracts each year. Just one employee must disclose conflicts

Public employees often must disclose outside income and gifts to in state-mandated forms. Why aren’t top LA homelessness officials? Out of hundreds of employees, only the CEO currently files, according to an LAist review of records.
Renters with pets could get new protections under LA County proposal

Furry friends are not always welcome in L.A. apartments. Some elected leaders now want to overturn pet bans — but landlords say they exist for good reasons.
Federal health care dollars are helping to house homeless Californians. Trump could stop that

Gov. Newsom launched a program that uses Medi-Cal to help homeless Californians access housing. Trump could end it in 2026.
More Californians are freezing to death. Experts point to more older homeless people

A growing number of people — many of them older and homeless — are freezing to death during winter.
Nearly a quarter of city-funded shelter beds for unhoused people in LA went unused, audit finds

Additionally, less than a fifth of people who did enter interim housing were able to secure permanent housing, which the audit said is “woefully inadequate.”
Facing need for more housing, LA's City Council votes to keep new apartments away from homeowners

The city needs to rezone for more than a quarter-million new homes. Elected leaders decided to block new housing in single-family neighborhoods.
Orange County has no plans to open temporary emergency winter shelters despite an increase in homelessness

In recent years, county officials have run into resistance from cities that are reluctant to host shelters.
LA officials say more city staff is needed to target thousands of illegal vacation rentals

The city estimates 7,500 homes are being illegally rented through online booking platforms. Here’s how they plan to crack down before the Olympics.

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Housing & Homelessness