Climate disasters are an affordable housing problem

U.S. policymakers need to think about affordable housing as part of their resiliency strategies. The next Lahaina could be a hurricane in the Gulf Coast, a storm in the Northeast or a massive wildfire in California. Having a healthy stock of protected and affordable housing should be part of our cities’ climate emergency plans.

Studies have suggested affordable and public housing are already among the most vulnerable community assets to events like flooding. Returning displaced residents to their neighborhoods and rebuilding a city’s affordable housing stock in the aftermath of a disaster have proven challenging.

Working-class and middle-income renters are key for the economy of Hawaiʻi, as they have been during the reconstruction and recuperation of the areas impacted by the fires. Offering affordable and stable places to live, without fearing the threat of an eviction, is fundamental for a healthy community. That’s why Hawaiʻi, as well as other states, need to work not only on building more housing but also on creating protections for tenants in the aftermath of disasters. That includes landlord-tenant mediation programs to amicably resolve issues like missed rent payments outside of court, which proved to be successful in curbing evictions during the pandemic.

With climate change, not only will fires become more common, but other natural disasters could happen more frequently. Finding any possible route to help renters is imperative. We shouldn’t wait for the next event to finally act.