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CHICAGO, May 12, 2008 –
Smoking bans are spreading across the country like wildfire. In the past, smokers have been asked to “put it out” in public places spanning from the workplace to restaurants and bars to parks. But in just the past five years, smoking bans have seeped into the homes of many renters and homeowners as tens of thousands of condos and apartments go smoke-free. As landlords and resident associates continue to fan the flames through a growing and voluntary movement to ban smoking in apartments, Apartments.com asked renters to weigh in on the issue though a national survey.
Many nonsmokers support the right of smokers to light up in their apartments. While the majority of renters surveyed (62%) by Apartments.com do not smoke, opinions on whether or not to ban smoking in apartment communities were neck in neck. Leading with a slight majority, forty-five percent of renters surveyed do not believe that smoking should be banned in apartment communities while nearly forty percent support a smoking ban.
However, this is not a black and white issue for renters as many seem conflicted by their desire to live in a smoke-free apartment community and the rights of the renter. Thirty-two percent of renters surveyed believe that their property management company should not be able to dictate whether or not they can smoke in the privacy of their own apartment, twenty-two percent believe renters should be allowed to smoke in their space as long as it doesn’t affect them and fourteen percent believe renters have the right to smoke inside their apartment, but would prefer to live in a smoke-free apartment community.
Smoking bans could affect the majority of renters surveyed as eight-five percent do not currently live in a smoke-free apartment community and almost thirty percent said they smoke inside their apartment. When asked what concerned them most about sharing a space with other smokers, renters listed accidental fire (30%) as their top concern followed by smelling smoke in their apartment (17%). However, nearly twenty-five percent of renters said that smokers living in their apartment community do not concern them.
Renters interested in learning more about their rights are encouraged to visit the “Landlords and Leases” section of Apartment Living on Apartments.com (http://living.apartments.com) for tips and articles on a variety of issues including security deposits, subletting an apartment and renters insurance.
As part of its monthly “What Renters Want” research series, Apartments.com surveys renters on various topics. For more information on these surveys or to receive a copy of additional survey results, please contact Tammy Kotula at tkotula@apartments.com.
About Apartments.com
Apartments.com is the most visited national apartment Internet listing subscription service with more than 50,000 unique addresses representing more than three million rental units from managed properties, newspaper classifieds and for-rent-by-owner properties. With personalized searches, highly visual ads featuring 360-degree virtual tours, professional photography, and comprehensive community listings, Apartments.com makes it possible for renters to access apartment rental inventory from across town or across the country. Leads from highly qualified, ready-to-rent prospects are delivered to Apartments.com customers, increasing closure rates and decreasing the average cost of leasing an apartment. The site's foundation of solid partnerships with the local newspaper and television station Web sites of more than 10,000 newspaper affiliate and strategic partners across the country include Yahoo! Real Estate, the Chicago Tribune (www.chicagotribune.com), The Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) and the Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com). Apartments.com is a division of Chicago-based Classified Ventures, LLC.
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