In an era of climate extremes, it’s not a renter’s market.
Hurricanes, wildfires, and other deadly weather events forced an estimated 2.5 million people in the U.S. from their homes last year. Though homeowners face their own challenges, a wide body of research shows that renters are more likely to be displaced after a disaster and for a longer period of time.
In cases where tenants can stay put, they often don’t get the support they need from landlords and insurers when facing climate-fueled flooding damage and sweltering heat waves. Now, there is a growing push to secure renters’ rights as climate impacts increase—but many property owners are pushing right back.
Renting in the Rain and Fire
In the U.S., more than 18 million occupied rental units—around 41% of the market—are in places subject to substantial climate risks such as hurricanes or wildfires, according to a January report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. During a disaster, residents in the region may be forced to evacuate as their homes or apartments are reduced to rubble.
Once the dust settles, many renters’ problems are just beginning.
A wide body of research shows that median rent prices shoot up immediately after a hurricane. This is exactly what happened during Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Ian, when displaced tenants were unable to renew their leases at the increased price, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Building owners may be looking to recoup financial losses from storm-related repairs or to capitalize on the increased demand for rentals as an influx of homeowners displaced by the storm look for a place to stay while rebuilding their own homes, a 2023 study found.
During disaster recovery, renters often have less access than homeowners to federal programs and grants offered by agencies like the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Advocates are now pushing for more renter-specific grants and disaster policies, which research shows could help protect tenants during recovery.
Additionally, renters’ insurance is not as comprehensive as many homeowners’ insurance plans, so tenants often struggle to secure compensation for losses after a climate-related disaster.
Similar disparities are laid bare during wildfires. For example, the Marshall fire that burned through Boulder, Colorado, in 2021 displaced more than 300 renters, many of whom lacked adequate insurance and were forced to pay for a hotel out of pocket—and some who paid rent on top of this fee as property owners repaired their unit, according to a report by the East County Housing Opportunity Coalition, an organization dedicated to housing security.
“Our disaster safety net in this country has always prioritized property,” Carlos Martín, project director at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, told Grist. “There’s so many ways that renters are screwed.”
This climate-driven rental crisis is an environmental justice issue, too. The majority of renters in the U.S. are lower income, and a higher proportion of renters are people of color. Discriminatory practices and the wealth ripple effects of past redlining have blocked many Black people from buying their own homes, leaving them particularly vulnerable to renter-related climate risks.
A Right to Cool Air?
Amid a heat wave, the cool embrace of an air-conditioned apartment is a welcome—and sometimes life-saving—reprieve.
However, millions of renters across the U.S. lack this chilled escape in their homes. In many areas, building owners are under no obligation to provide adequate air conditioning for their tenants, according to a recent Reuters analysis.
That includes Tennessee, where extreme summer heat poses particularly high health threats to individuals without a place to escape it, as Jonmaesha Beltran reported for Inside Climate News. Currently, just a few cities and counties have passed bills requiring landlords to provide air conditioning that can bring temperatures down to a certain level during extreme heat, including Dallas, Maryland’s Montgomery County and Phoenix—the hottest city in the U.S.
A few similar bills are under consideration in New York City, Los Angeles County and Austin, Texas. But other proposals across the country have failed in recent years, largely due to pushback from landlords. Financial barriers to indoor cooling include the high cost of electricity used to power air conditioners and the potential rent increases required to retrofit older buildings with adequate air conditioning.
However, doctors agree that reliable access to cool air is a necessity during a heat wave, which can cause a variety of negative health effects—from dehydration to heat stroke.
“In the area of climate change driven extreme heat, cooling devices in my patients’ home is no longer a luxury,” said Dr. Gaurab Basu, a physician and the director of education and policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment.
“But for far too many, especially renters, home can be where heat is very dangerous because of the lack of cooling devices,” he told me over email. “We need new laws and regulations that recognize these health threats and help our communities find safety from dangerous heat in their homes.”
—By Kiley Price, Inside Climate News
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News. It is republished with permission.