Housing: What We Know from Landlords and Tenants

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Housing What We Know from Landlords and Tenants
Brittany McFadden, Association for
NonsmokersMinnesota Pat McKone, American Lung
Association of Minnesota Warren Ortland, Tobacco
Law Center Christina Thill, Minnesota Department
of Health 2009 National Conference on Tobacco or
Health Phoenix, AZ June 12, 2009
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Smoke-Free Housing in the Twin Cities Metro

• Live Smoke Free
• Program of the Association for NonsmokersMinnesot
  a
• Geographic area Seven county Twin Cities metro
  area, including Minneapolis and St. Paul (55 of
  Minnesota residents live in the Twin Cities)
• Funded by the Minnesota Department of Health
• Contract with Tobacco Law Center in Minnesota for
  legal technical assistance
• Goal Increase the number of smoke-free policies
  in apartments or other multi-housing buildings

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Renters Concerned about Secondhand Smoke

• Renters have contacted ANSR with complaints for
  over 10 years
• Averages at least one call from a new renter/week
• Tobacco smoke entering rental unit from another
  unit, hallway, patio, deck
• Callers range from senior citizens to immigrants
  to college students
• As more public places have become smoke free,
  renters are asking for smoke-free apartments

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Previous Research

• Major research project on smoke-free
  multi-housing in Minnesota conducted from
  2000-2004 (funded by ClearWay Minnesota)
• 1. Survey of renters
• 50 wanted smoke-free apartments
• Only 2 lived in a smoke-free apartment
• 2. Survey of apartment owners
• Managers of smoke-free buildings were happy with
  their smoke-free policy
• 3. Legal advisory committee
• Smoke-free policies are legal
• Committee developed a smoke-free lease addendum
• 4. Testing of air movement in apartment
  buildings
• Air movement is significant
• Secondhand smoke has many opportunities to travel
  through a building
• Full reports available at
  www.mncee.org

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2008 ResearchEligible Respondents

• 406 renters from the Twin Cities seven-county
  metro area
• Must live in an apartment building with 4 or more
  units
• No owner-occupied units (condos, townhomes)
• 75 respondents were Caucasian (69 census)
• Sample had more women and was older than the
  general population (typical for survey
  respondents)
• November 2008 February 2009

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Purpose of Survey

• Focused on grant region
• Majority of multi-housing in MN is located in the
  Twin Cities metro area
• 66 or 275,000 units
• About 5,500 units are currently smoke-free in
  metro
• Goal was to trend data from the 2001 tenant
  survey
• Kept the methods as similar as possible
• Mail survey phone follow-up

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Key Themes from Survey

• Secondhand smoke exposure in apartment buildings
  is occurring and is a problem
• Renters want to live in smoke-free apartment
  buildings

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Renters are Exposed to SHS
How often has tobacco smoke odor gotten into
your apartment from somewhere else in the
building?
of Renters
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Sources of Secondhand Smoke Drift
Patio/balconies 34
Another unit 53
Bldg. Grounds 37
Common areas 27
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Renters are Bothered by SHS
How much does tobacco smoke odor bother
you? Respondents were those who previously
stated they were being exposed to SHS
of Renters
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Tenants Feel that Landlords Provide Little Help

• 25 of renters with SHS in their apartment talked
  to their landlord about it
• Of the 75 who did not, nearly 40 said it was
  because they felt the landlord couldnt do
  anything about it

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Renters want Smoke-Free Apartment Buildings
If two apartment buildings were the same in
every way including rent, except that one did not
allow smoking anywhere, how likely would you be
to choose the no-smoking building over the
building where smoking was permitted?
Very /somewhat likely to choose smoke-free
building 2001 73 2008 75
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Renters Interest in Smoke-Free Areas
Patio/balconies 62
All units 73
All property 62
Bldg. Entrances 64
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Some Renters Will Give Up Amenities for a SF
Building
If you were planning to move, would you be
willing to do the following to live in a
completely SF apartment building?
No pool or playground 47
Drive 10 minutes further to work 36
Pay 25 more each month in rent 23
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Smoke-Free Buildings are Becoming More Common
Renters were asked Is smoking prohibited in all
apartment units in your building?
of Renters
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Sharing Our Results

• Share with MN Multi-Housing Association members
  and MN Chapter of the National Association of
  Housing and Redevelopment Officials (public
  housing) members
• Share with local landlord coalitions
• Press releases to Twin Cities media
• Assist landlords in adopting smoke-free policies!

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Changes for Future Surveys

• Conduct a statewide survey with oversampling of
  Twin Cities metro area
• Consider oversampling for both families and
  younger renters
• Conduct the survey in the first year of the
  program

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Strategies Wed Repeat

• Continue to trend the data
• Solicit input from multiple researchers
• Incorporate questions that are relevant to the
  needs of the multi-housing industry
• Work with a nonprofit-based or university-based
  research group to secure credibility

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Final Report Coming Soon!

• Fact sheets and final report will be available
  later this summer
• Visit www.mnsmokefreehousing.org or contact us
  for more information!

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Contact Information

• Brittany McFadden
• Program Director,
• Live Smoke Free
• Association for NonsmokersMinnesota
• 2395 University Avenue West, 310
• St. Paul, MN 55114
• [phone]
• bhm_at_ansrmn.org
• www.mnsmokefreehousing.org