This Action Guide is a resource for elected officials, policymakers, and advocates interested in creating or improving a Healthy Rental Housing policy. Healthy Rental Housing policies ensure that homes in our communities meet the safety standards we all want — from good plumbing to lead-free paint. They can also help detect life-threatening toxins like mold and asbestos. When communities have Healthy Rental Housing policies, hardworking families are protected from certain threats to their health and can feel safer and healthier at home.
Excerpts of the policy guide are below, and download the full guide here.
Produced in partnership with Enterprise Advisors, the mission-driven consultancy of Enterprise Community Partners.
How to use this Action Guide
Healthy Rental Housing policies consist of two programs, a registry of rental homes and a proactive rental inspection program, that work together to increase healthy, safe, and stable rental housing opportunities. While a local government can have a rental registry without a proactive rental inspection program, a proactive rental inspection program can only be effectively implemented with a rental registry.
Rental registry: A centralized database where landlords register rental properties, providing essential details for tracking housing, ensuring compliance with regulations, and facilitating communication between property owners and their local jurisdictions. Overall, rental registries are crucial in promoting transparency, accountability, and efficient management of rental housing markets.
Proactive rental inspection: An innovative alternative code enforcement policy approach that mandates periodic inspections of rental properties. Unlike the more commonly used complaint-based code enforcement programs, a proactive rental inspection program is systematic process to assess the condition of rental properties before issues escalate.
There are four primary benefits to implementing Healthy Rental Housing policies:
- Protects vulnerable renters: Healthy Rental Housing policies can help jurisdictions identify health and safety issues while removing the onus from residents to report violations. Vulnerable renters may be hesitant to report issues to jurisdictions for a fear of retaliation, which could include eviction or non-renewal of leases. These concerns are heightened for those who distrust government systems, face language barriers, and have difficulty navigating government programs and/or online systems. This may include immigrant households, including those who are undocumented or have mixed immigration statuses.
- Provides resources for landlords: Healthy Rental Housing programs can support landlords by providing assistance in the form of preventative maintenance tactics, identifying local resources for smaller landlords, and education on health housing codes.
- Decreases evictions: Healthy Rental Housing policies can decrease evictions based on the nonpayment (or withholding of) of rent due to substandard living conditions or increased repair costs borne by the renter. Where a Legal Support for Renters policy accompanies a Healthy Rental Housing policy, tenants have greater access to representation when seeking legal redress if landlords do not maintain their properties. Reduced evictions can mitigate negative impacts on both families and communities.
- Protects surrounding homes: When unsafe and unhealthy housing conditions are left unaddressed, they can also affect surrounding homes. Healthy Rental Housing policies can help address blighted properties, which can decrease surrounding property values, pose larger safety hazards, and negatively impact the local housing market
To date, CityHealth has awarded 24 communities with medals for their Healthy Rental Housing policies — three have achieved gold, four have achieved silver, and 17 have achieved bronze. While Healthy Rental Housing policies are a relatively new tool used by local jurisdictions to improve their community’s rental homes, national momentum is growing for this type of policy as more and more cities recognize the benefits of adopting this program.
Why adopt a Healthy Rental Housing policy?
Healthy Rental Housing policies improve the health of renters by mitigating risks associated with substandard housing. One study found that 85.1% of affordable housing property inspections identified at least one health-related housing quality issue.[1]
Adopting a Healthy Rental Housing policy also provides local administrators opportunities to develop partnerships with local institutions invested in community health. For example, in Boston, Massachusetts, the local health commission partnered with local healthcare providers to develop the Breathe Easy at Home program, which effectively allows healthcare professionals to “prescribe” home inspections for their child patients exhibiting asthma symptoms. This helps Boston’s Inspection Services Department identify and prioritize inspections for potentially substandard rental housing.
Implementing Healthy Rental Housing policies can benefit renters, local governments, and landlords.
[1] Klein, E. G., Keller, B., Hood, N., & Holtzen, H. (2015). Affordable Housing and Health: A Health Impact Assessment on Physical Inspection Frequency. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 21(4), 368–374. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48516924
By changing from a complaint-based inspection process to a proactive one, it is no longer the full responsibility of the tenant to report code violations they may be living in. Shifting this burden from renters can be tremendously impactful. Doing so helps prevent dangerous living conditions from worsening because it is no longer the responsibility of the tenant to be able to identify a code violation and navigate the code violation reporting process. Proactive, routine inspections also address concerns about landlords retaliating against tenants who do issue a complaint. In this way, Healthy Rental Housing can serve as a crucial tool for protecting renters and ensuring housing stability, especially in cities that have limited authority or capacity to do so otherwise.
Healthy Rental Housing policies can be designed to be revenue-neutral. Registration, renewal, inspection, and code violation fees help cover the cost of administering the programs. If structured accordingly, Healthy Rental Housing policies can generate enough revenue to help renters displaced from homes that were found to be unhabitable and/or smaller local landlords who need financial assistance to cover the cost of needed repairs.
Healthy Rental Housing policies establish clear standards and expectations for landlords so that all landlords are held equally accountable for maintaining their rental homes up to healthy standards. These programs have also contributed to fewer complaint-based violations that landlords need to address. Landlords are responsible for maintaining habitable conditions for their residents regardless of a city’s inspection policy. A Healthy Rental Housing policy should be minimally burdensome for those who adhere to required health and safety codes.
Drafting A Strong Healthy Rental Housing Policy
Step-By-Step Process
The first step in developing a Healthy Rental Housing policy is to define the goals of the policy. During this process, it is important to examine both quantitative and qualitative data — examining available data while conducting resident and stakeholder engagement. This ensures that the policy is grounded in local context and builds relationships with those most likely to be impacted by the policy.
Once the policy’s goal(s) are determined, several key policy components must be considered when developing or improving a Healthy Rental Housing policy. The structure below is based on how CityHealth evaluates medals for its partner cities.
Coalition building is crucial for designing, implementing, and administering Healthy Rental Housing policies. Comprehensive coalitions include government agencies, renters, property owners and property managers, advocates, and other major institutions because they all play a vital role in this process. Government agencies provide the regulatory framework and oversight necessary for safe living conditions, while renters, property owners, and advocates offer valuable perspectives and expertise. Additionally, philanthropies and financial institutions contribute resources and support for effective policy implementation, particularly in under-resourced areas. Together, these stakeholders can form a collaborative coalition to create and enforce rental inspection policies that promote equitable housing standards and address community needs.
Establishing and maintaining a rental unit database that serves as the foundation for Healthy Rental Housing policy implementation is key. Rental registries help to create an accurate inventory of the city’s rental housing stock and determine which units/properties will be proactively inspected in any given year. They also provide code enforcement officers with contact information for landlords when inspections are scheduled, and/or violations are discovered. These databases also allow the city to analyze rental housing trends over time, depending on what information is captured. Establishing an annual or bi-annual rental registry is the minimum requirement for a city to achieve a bronze medal.
Policymakers need to consider if they would like to charge landlords a registration and/or inspection fee. Table 1 depicts several examples of how cities have structured their Healthy Rental Housing fees. While there is no specific amount that cities should charge, a registration and/or inspection fee is required for a CityHealth gold medal. Several considerations include:
- Frequency
- Rates
- Exemptions
- Inspections
It is common for cities to exempt smaller properties from Health Rental Housing policies (less than four units). Policies with lower minimums capture more rental units and protect more tenants. Policies with higher minimums capture fewer units and are intended to exempt smaller “mom or pop” landlords. The unit minimum a city includes for its Healthy Rental Housing policy should reflect the program’s goals based on credible data and community engagement. To receive a bronze medal, cities must require properties with three or more units to register.
One of the primary objectives of a Healthy Rental Housing policy is to increase the frequency of inspections on rental homes. Proactive inspections encourage landlords to comply with codes as they are subject to more frequent inspections. Generally, the more frequent the inspections, the greater the benefit is for renters. The relative frequency and method of inspections should seek to prioritize tenants but also must be balanced with administrative time and program costs. There are a variety of methods that could be used to identify and prioritize rental properties for inspection. Cities must require inspections every 10 years to receive a silver medal and at least every five years to receive a gold medal.
Areas of inspection refer to what part of a rental home is required for inspection (i.e., external, only communal spaces, full internal, etc.). Areas of inspection matter because inspecting the interior versus the exterior of a building can significantly impact the habitability of the rental home. Cities must balance how thoroughly rental homes are inspected against the time and resources it takes for code enforcement officers to inspect the property. The central focus should be to maximize protecting renters from unsafe, unhealthy, or unhabitable conditions.
Many jurisdictions exempt certain properties from rental registrations, fees, and/or inspections. Each jurisdiction’s exemptions need to be tailored to the city’s housing stock and residents’ housing needs.
Providing renters and landlords with advanced notice of an inspection can improve policy outcomes, protect tenants’ privacy, and build trust between all parties involved. Above all else, it is best practice to provide notice to both landlords and tenants in writing. Requiring notice increases the likelihood that someone is available to open the unit for interior inspections and reduces renters’ concerns about invasion of privacy. Two weeks’ notice is generally considered a reasonable amount of time. Cities must require advanced notice of an inspection to property owners or tenants to receive a silver medal.
Information to include:
- Date and time of inspection
- Information on who to contact with questions
- Education on the policy and any related protections they may have
Annual reporting of Healthy Rental Housing activities and revenue ensures accountability and allows the public to understand how the policy works. A strong annual report will tell a story about a city’s Healthy Rental Housing policy and clearly communicate the data and progress in increasing registration and improved health outcomes.
Although both reporting and evaluation are not required for a medal, it is best practice to evaluate these policies in addition to sharing statistics annually. Evaluation helps city administrators understand how well the policy is achieving its intended goal(s) and allows officials the opportunity to reflect, revise, and make improvements to their existing policies.
Best practices for reporting and evaluation promote transparency and track the city’s progress in implementing and improving the policy. For example, Seattle’s Healthy Rental Housing policy (a silver medal policy) requires an annual report to the city council that includes an evaluation of properties’ registration status, newly identified housing units, property owners’ compliance with the policy, inspection results, the number of inspections that have resulted from complaints, any audits and findings on inspections, and how well fees are supporting the program.[1]
[1] ChangeLab Solutions (2022). A Guide to Proactive Rental Inspections https://www.changelabsolutions.org/sites/default/files/2022-11/A-Guide-to-Proactive-Rental-Inspections_FINAL_20221031A.pdf
Best Practices: Additional Considerations
It is important to map out how a Healthy Rental Housing policy will be implemented and administered contemporaneously with the policy design process. Cities can develop a thoughtful Healthy Rental Housing policy approach that fits their housing landscape and protects renters. These policies can fall short if the city does not adequately gauge the time and capacity needed to administer and enforce the policy. It is essential that cities have the personnel and administrative systems in place to effectively oversee and monitor the policy.
Common Challenges and Solutions
The new revenue streams from registration and inspection fees can help to recoup the costs of the program, and because proactive inspections occur more frequently, cities are likely to see an increase in revenue from code violation enforcement.
Gathering inspection data electronically can help to reduce administrative costs. Other creative funding mechanisms could also be implemented, such as a fee for short-term rentals.[1] Staffing costs could be reduced by allowing inspections to be performed by city-approved private, third-party agents instead of in-house inspectors.
[1] States have different parameters on how fees and fines can be used. Please be sure to consult with your local legal experts to understand what is feasible in your community.
Yes, this is an essential part of any Healthy Rental Housing policy, especially in markets with many investor-owned properties. Many cities require a local contact within the jurisdiction or within a reasonable number of miles. One creative solution some jurisdictions have considered to help protect smaller, local landlords in the wake of increased institutional investment in smaller rental properties is to institute a portfolio-size exemption instead of a building size exemption. This helps to ensure that property owners with smaller portfolios are exempt while still ensuring that institutional investors who buy multiple smaller properties are not.
Currently, there are no known studies or data that demonstrate that Healthy Rental Housing policies increase rents. Some cities that have concerns about this issue explicitly state in city code or the establishing ordinances that registration fees and inspection fees cannot be passed down to tenants through rent. Other complementary renter protection policies, such as rent stabilization policies, can help to ensure that rents are not raised beyond reasonable amounts. As another means of accountability, some cities can enact policies allowing renters to pay rent into an escrow account while property owners make needed repairs.
Public officials should engage with landlords and landlord associations early and often to ensure that fees and inspection obligations are appropriate given the local context.
Some cities exempt single-family rentals or smaller multifamily properties from Healthy Rental Housing policy requirements. Other cities exempt smaller properties where the landlord lives in the building, as those properties tend to be kept in better condition than buildings without an owner living on the premises.[1] However, CityHealth recommends that these exemptions only apply to fees, not inspections. All landlords should be held to the same standard of maintaining healthy and habitable homes regardless of their size.
One way to minimize the burden on smaller landlords and ensure compliance is to make the registration process as simple and clear as possible. For instance, many cities provide a document explaining in step-by-step detail how to register (complete with screenshots) and what is expected of them regarding inspections.
[1] Rose, G., & Harris, R. (2022). The three tenures: A case of property maintenance. Urban Studies, 59(9), 1926–1943. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980211029203
No. While important, short-term rental registries and proactive inspections are not eligible for CityHealth medals as they are not designed to serve local renters. However, where enacted, short-term rental registries and inspection programs can serve as a good foundation to build Healthy Rental Housing policies that include long-term rental homes.
When cities face pre-emption from adopting Healthy Rental Housing policies, they can employ several strategies to improve housing quality and code enforcement. Initially, cities can assess opportunities, challenges, and needs within their current system to identify areas for improvement. This could include code enforcement education and putting in place additional renter protections. Increasing resources for code enforcement departments, particularly for priority neighborhoods, can enhance proactive monitoring and enforcement efforts. Implementing a cooperative code enforcement model fosters collaboration between cities and property owners, emphasizing problem-solving approaches to address housing issues effectively.
In addition, developing a revolving fund tailored explicitly for small, local property owners can offer financial assistance to make critical repairs, thereby ensuring compliance with housing standards. Lastly, cities can focus on partnership development with funders to secure necessary resources and support for sustainable housing initiatives, promoting safer and healthier living environments for all residents.
Healthy Rental Housing Policy Checklist
Healthy Rental Housing policies offer an alternative approach to code enforcement that helps improve housing quality, ensures homes are safe, and addresses problems relatively quickly. City as a policy that requires annual rental registration of buildings with three or more units for all property types. Certain exemptions may be allowed including when the unit is vacant, a family member is living there but not on the deed, units where rent is not collected, and if the owner occupies one of the units.
- City has a policy that requires annual rental registration of buildings with three or more units for all property types. Certain exemptions may be allowed including when the unit is vacant, a family member is living there but not on the deed, units where rent is not collected, and if the owner occupies one of the units.
- City policy requires routine, periodic inspections to be conducted at least every three to five years.
- City policy requires inspection of property exteriors and interiors when there is an exterior violation.
- City policy requires advanced notice of inspection to go to the landlord or the tenant
- City policy requires landlords to pay registration or inspection fees.
- City policy requires an evaluation or reporting requirement.
