Smoke-Free Multifamily

07 / 20 / 12

2 min read

A boost to healthy lifestyles was delivered late last month when HUD and HHS unveiled two smoke-free housing toolkits. Working conjointly with public housing authorities across the country, the effort is an attempt to provide healthier homes and to cut costs for maintenance. One toolkit focuses on property owners/managers and the other targets residents.

“A healthy home is a smoke-free home”, said Jon Gant, Director of HUD’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. “If we’re serious about promoting healthy living conditions in federally assisted housing, then we have to get serious about promoting smoke-free housing. HUD is pleased to join hands with our partners in this important effort to create a healthy home environment for families and their children.”

Fewer complaints from nonsmokers, reduced risks of fires, protection from secondhand smoke, decreased maintenance and clean-up costs, better retention of current residents, greater appeal to prospective renters; these are just a few benefits after adopting the nonsmoking policy.

Once made visible and marketed accordingly, the policy will attract many prospects, specifically interested in nonsmoking units.

Some apartment complexes have announced their residents that within a determined period of time they’ll become fully nonsmoking, starting with one floor after another, and even offered to give them resources to help them quit. Addendums to the leases will be signed by all those who live in the smoke-free buildings.

The toolkits contain information on health effects of secondhand smoking, how to implement non-smoking policies as owner, a smoke-free guide for the resident, a home smoke-free pledge kit, and other useful resources, put together by HUD, HHS, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Lung Association.

Over 140,000 fires were started by cigarettes, cigars and pipes in the U.S. in 2007 only, causing $530 million in property damage (per the National Fire Protection Association). One quarter of the victims in fire-related fires are not the actual smokers, but relatives, friends, or neighbors.

The owners’ toolkit can be accessed here, and the toolkit for residents is found here.

AUTHOR

Anca Gagiuc brings more than a decade of experience within the real estate industry. She is a senior associate editor with Commercial Property Executive and Multi-Housing News who also writes monthly multifamily reports at Yardi Matrix. Contact Anca at [email protected]

Smoke-Free Multifamily

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