This report does not make an attempt to claim that renting is anything but a partial answer to the housing problems that so many people in so many human settlements both in developed and developing countries are facing. Nor does it deny that rental accommodation is often inadequate, or contest that many of the buildings in which tenants and sharers live would fail any conscientious housing inspection. The report is in fact pragmatic rather than visionary.

The report’s argument for a balanced view on the security of tenure for tenants as well as for landlords is an important aspect of the Global Campaign, as well as an essential factor towards the realization of target 11 of the Millennium Development Goals: “By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.” An appropriate level of security for both tenants and owners is in fact an essential requirement for the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing.

A large proportion of residents in cities and towns of developed as well as developing countries are tenants. Despite this, the number of governments actually trying to support rental housing development is rather small. Multilateral agencies are little better. Although some agencies at least recognize the importance of the rental housing sector, the majority are mostly remiss and virtually never mention rental housing nor develop loan programmes to encourage it.

In 1989, a meeting of experts organized by UN-HABITAT concluded that governments should review their housing policies and devise appropriate strategies for rental housing which remove biases against non-owners. Unfortunately, little has actually happened since, and recognition of the important role played by the rental sector still constitutes the greatest hole in many national housing policies.

The report reveals the current level of neglect of rental housing and suggests why the extent of encouragement given to homeownership has been misplaced.

It then describes the diverse forms that rental and shared housing take before examining some of the myths that underpin much thinking about the rental issue.

Finally, it suggests what governments might do to encourage landlords to create more and better quality accommodation for rent. The report discusses rental housing throughout the world but its main message is intended for governments in developing countries.

The Report proposes a number of issues that require further research before concluding with a call for a major initiative convincing more governments of the benefits of tenure-neutral housing policies. Rental housing is not going to disappear.

If the only option is homeownership, then many governments may be faced by a vast wave of land invasions and irregular forms of urban development. Most cities need rental housing to accommodate substantial numbers of families. Support for rental housing should be regarded a complement to homeownership, not as a form of competition.
It is also particularly important to recognize that self-help landlordism is not just a form of providing housing but also a way of generating work in construction and providing a supplementary income for many poor families.

The evidence presented in the report clearly demonstrates how
renting can be encouraged. Renting will grow whatever governments do. However, the kind of rental housing that will be produced can be improved by more informed and better directed State action. To achieve this, it is essential that more governments change their current attitudes.

//

01/12/2003

United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)

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Urban Policy > Housing

Housing policy