Smoke-Free Housing. Good for Business. Good for People.
Residents are looking for smoke-free housing and residents are also willing to pay more and travel more just to find cleaner, healthier homes for themselves and their families.
“Smoke-free apartment communities not only promotes healthy residents, but also a healthy bottom line.”
Dave Watkins, Former Chairman of the Board, National Apartment Association
SMOKE-FREE POLICIES ARE LEGAL
No legal barrier prevents owners or managers of multi-unit housing complexes from adopting smoke-free policies, according to Americans for Non Smoking Rights. Surveys find that most tenants prefer smoke-free policies. No evidence exists that going smoke-free would be difficult to implement or enforce. Rather, operators of multi-unit housing with smoke-free policies indicated that they are more likely to keep the policies in place.
Smoke-Free Policies are Legal Q&A
Advice on Enforcing a Smoke-Free Housing Policy
“As a landlord, you not only have the legal right to adopt a smoke-free policy, but the ability to enforce this policy as you would any other lease clause.”
Public Health Law Center
Getting Started
We have put together a helpful guide for switching to a smoke-free policy.
THE BEST SMOKE-FREE POLICY IS A COMPREHENSIVE SMOKE-FREE POLICY
Housing providers are increasingly adopting smoke-free policies in multi-unit residential buildings due to concerns about drifting smoke, smoking related maintenance costs and to reduce fire risks. Secondhand smoke is a carcinogen that can’t completely be removed by ventilation because it clings to walls and furniture. It’s a known cancer causing agent.
Ventilation Does Not Protect Against Secondhand Smoke
The American Society of Heating and Refrigeration Engineers affirmed in 2016 that “At present, the only means of effectively eliminating health risk associated with indoor exposure is to ban smoking activity.”
Model Smoke-free Lease Addendum
A Smoke-Free Housing Library
Public Housing Policies
“Two factors influenced our decision to go smoke-free. First, the cost of turning a unit that had a smoker in it was astronomical. I knew if I could smell cigarette smoke in the building hallways, so could visitors and possible future residents. The majority of my residents are smokers, so it has been a challenge, but I still believe a smoke-free policy was best for the property as a whole and I’m very happy we did it.”
Carrie Newton, CS-PHM Executive Director, Bonner Springs Housing Authority
