Homes - National Asthma Public Policy Agenda

Supporting Strategies:

• Adopt and proactively enforce healthy housing standards in state and local housing codes.
• Use integrated pest management (IPM) techniques in multi-unit housing.

Supporting Strategies:

• Provide training for housing code enforcement officials on applying codes to address indoor environmental quality problems.
• Provide proactive inspections of rental housing.
• Provide authority and capacity for local health departments to take legal action to enforce indoor environmental quality-related codes and laws (including nuisance laws).
• Provide capacity within state and local housing inspection agencies to offer specialized services to identify and remedy indoor environmental quality problems where families with asthma reside.
• Improve legal and other recourse for tenants to ensure enforcement of local laws (including judicial education, increasing legal services and tenant education) without risk of displacement.
• Provide capacity for state and local health departments to offer guidance to property owners on identifying and remediating indoor environmental quality problems, including information on smokefree policies.

Supporting Strategies:

• Pass state and local laws and regulations to require smokefree multi-unit housing, including e-cigarettes and marijuana.
• Expand policy with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to require all federally supported multi-family housing to be smokefree.
• Develop and disseminate guidance on best practices for enforcement of smokefree policies while minimizing displacement and eviction.
• Provide resources and services to support smokers wishing to quit.
• Collaborate with tenants’ rights and other community-based organizations to develop and implement policies and best practices.

Supporting Strategies:

• Identify substandard public and other federally assisted housing buildings and renovate according to best practices for healthy indoor environmental quality.
• Green building guidelines should incorporate healthy housing standards.
• Housing authorities should incorporate financing tools, including grants, loans and tax credits, to ensure safe and healthy properties.
• Ensure that federal policies for the funding of housing rehabilitation encourage following best practices for improving indoor environmental quality for housing rehabilitation and weatherization.
• Housing authorities should incorporate climate resilience into building construction, rehabilitation and repair with considerations of siting of residential buildings and flood protection; materials; heating, cooling and ventilation; energy sources; and zero-emission vehicle fueling infrastructure.