Decisions of Landlords about Their Renters and Rental Units after Disasters

Abstract

Postdisaster recovery in the rental housing submarket has attracted scant attention in both policy and scholarly circles. In particular, little is known about landlords’ decisions on whether to keep their previous renters, change their rental fees, and invest in rebuilding or repair of their rental units in lower-income cities. The literature presents a monolithic understanding of landlords’ decisions, grounding them solely within economic choices concerned with their investment return. We explored the factors that influence these decisions, focusing on the earthquake-affected city of Sarpol Zahab, Iran. Data on 142 reconstructed/repaired rental units were collected. Employing the logistic regression and multivariate regression models, we focused on the decisions of landlords about (1) keeping their previous renters or not and (2) increasing the rent. This paper underscores the importance of social as well as economic factors in these decisions. In terms of policy implications, the paper argues that assisting landlords with reconstruction/repair of their rental units without conditions supporting predisaster renters’ rights increases the commercialization and formalization of rental housing and commodification of the city.