Assessing property owner perspectives on smoke-free multi-unit housing policies

Audience: All tobacco control staff

Key Points:

Property owners are the key decisionmakers in determining whether a multi-unit housing complex offers smoke-free protections to residents.  The San Mateo County Health System developed a survey to assess smoke-free policy practices, and messaging options.  Over 1,000 surveys were distributed, with 256 completed responses.

Sixty-one percent of owners reported having some type of smoking policy at their property (6% indoor only, 23% outdoor only, 32% both). 

Property owners without any policy indicated higher average ratings for identified barriers to smoke-free adoption.  These barriers included being unfair to smokers, possibly encountering legal problems, and difficulty enforcing smoke-free rules.  Conversely, owners with current smoking restrictions were more likely to identify higher rankings for benefits to smoke-free policies, including repair costs, insurance premium discounts, fire risk, and protecting tenant health. Landlords with no policies were significantly less likely to report having previously received complaints from tenants (21.6% versus 46.1% of those respondents with a policy).

Various additional trends in perceived benefits and barriers also were found, when property owners were compared by how many units they manage and jurisdiction they operate in.

Educational Experience: Attendees will receive survey tool and explore factors affecting landlord interest in policies 

Benefits:

Allowing for open-ended responses in the survey revealed several additional landlord-generated benefits of adopting smoke-free policies, including better marketing opportunities and reduced cigarette butt litter pickup.  Applications for the field include well-tailored educational efforts focusing on the influences that landlords without smoke-free policies identify as most relevant.