Smoke-Free Housing Saves Money

Cost to Rehabilitate a Smoke-Free Unit vs. a Smoking Unit

Data reflects surveys from housing authorities and subsidized housing facilities in New England. Collected and reported by Smoke-Free Housing New England, 2009.

Tenants who smoke inside their homes cause higher cleaning costs than tenants who don't smoke.²

When a tenant who smokes moves out, costly cleaning and repairs are often necessary to prepare the unit for a new tenant:

• Removing nicotine (yellow stains) on walls, cabinets, blinds and fixtures.
• Eliminating smoke odor in drapes, carpets and walls.
• Repairing damaged, burned, or singed carpet, tiles and drapes.²

Additional Cost

Smoking can be the cause of a variety of expensive property damages, ranging from extra cleaning costs to fire-related repairs. Most of these expenses can be prevented.

• Smoking materials (cigarettes, cigars, lighters, matches, etc.) are the leading cause of home and fire deaths in the United States.¹
• The fire cost due to smoking in the U.S. was estimated at $6.95 billion in 1998; direct property damage at approximately $8.8 million.¹
• According to the Nebraska State Fire Marshall, in 2005, 54 fires in the state were caused by smoking, resulting in damages over $600,000.

Property owners should work with their insurance agent to negotiate a lower premium after implementing a smoke-free policy, the decrease in risk may also result in a decreased rate.

¹ Leistikow. B.N., D.C. Martin, and C.E. Milano (2000) "Fire Injuries, Disasters, and Costs from Cigarettes and Cigarette Lights: A Global Overview," Preventive Medicine 31 (2): 93-96.
² http://www.mismokefreeapartment.org/l10save.html

© Copyright 2010 Metro Omaha Tobacco Action Coalition.

Tenants Want Smoke-Free Buildings!

In June 2005, a survey of Douglas County renters discovered that a demand for smoke-free housing exists.

• More than 70% of renters say they are likely to choose a non-smoking building over a similar building that allows smoking.
• 38% of renters would pay more rent to live in a multifamily residence where smoking was not allowed.
• Almost half (44%) of respondents report that secondhand smoke gets into their rental residence from somewhere else in or around the building.
• 70% of residents who encounter secondhand smoke in their homes say that it bothers them. 36% say that it bothers them a lot and some are even bothered enough to move.

The 2008 Survey of Douglas County Property Owners found that over 80% of property owners with a smoke-free policy did not see an increase in vacancy or turnover rates after implementing policies.