The housing crisis has been at the forefront of the public mind for several years. However, there are many challenges to finding and securing stable and affordable housing, and these challenges became more prominent during the pandemic.

There can be no denying that we have a full-blown housing crisis in the United States. If you don’t believe that, consider the following statistics:

• There is not a single state, county, or city anywhere in the country where a person working 40 hours a week on a minimum wage can afford the rent for a two-bedroom property.
• To afford a fair market rental unit and utilities without spending more than 30% of income, one would have to make $24.90 hourly.

Despite the affordability challenges, there have been fewer evictions due to the availability of COVID assistance for many individuals and the eviction moratoriums that have been in place until recently.

While many people have maintained housing, there has been a decline in the safety of these rental homes, particularly concerning fire safety.

For evidence of this, you simply need to scan the headlines. It is easy to find troves of news stories, such as the death of 17 people in New York City in January or another one in Philadelphia that killed 12, including eight children. But unfortunately, these tragedies may have been avoidable with proper fire safety precautions.

The housing crisis contributes to a decline in fire safety in several ways, such as:

• Overcrowding: Because housing has become unaffordable for many people, families are often jam-packed into space designed for fewer people. This overcrowding usually means that stuff is packed tightly into the available space, meaning that if a fire breaks out, it will spread rapidly.
• Inoperable or missing fire safety equipment: Some tenants may mistake removing fire equipment, such as extinguishers, to make room for other items. Alternatively, these safety items may be buried under so much other stuff that they are hard to find during an emergency.
• Fewer repairs: Many – if not most – residential fires are caused by space heaters. There are more than 1,700 residential fires, 80 deaths, and 160 injuries linked to space heaters every year.

Unfortunately, the housing crisis has impacted landlords as well as tenants. With eviction moratoriums in place, landlords could not evict tenants who could not pay rent due to the pandemic.

While this is usually seen as a good thing, there can be no denying that it impacted the operational budget for many landlords. In many cases, landlords did not have sufficient funds to repair when heating units failed. And this says nothing about landlords who have always neglected their duty to keep rental units safe.

The housing crises have exacerbated this problem and led many families to rely on space heaters. And in many rentals, there are also damaged exit routes that can make a dangerous fire deadly. To avoid this kind of happenings, the landlords or the building owners might take extra safety measures to ensure the proper functioning of the entire heating and cooling system. As a part of general maintenance, they might also seek help from expert HVAC service providers like fsioilandpropane.com and perhaps switch to more environmentally friendly and safe heating options like propane furnaces to reduce the instances of fire breakouts.

The reality is that the current housing crisis has resulted in less fire safety in many rental units across the country. Yet, despite the hardships that the crisis presents, fire safety is essential, and many relatively inexpensive actions can greatly enhance fire safety.

These actions can reduce the risk that tenants may get injured or perish during a residential fire. Easy ways to increase fire safety at rentals include:

• Checking the smoke detectors. Many tenants may remove batteries from a smoke detector when they need to be replaced. If they don’t have the correct battery type, it’s simply easier to take the old ones out and not replace them, or forget to replace them.

In large apartment buildings, tenants might feel like they don’t need them because the neighbor’s smoke detector should be working. But operational smoke detectors remain the single best way to avoid a tragedy during a fire. The alarm system in the smoke detector, warns the security system of the entire building so that they can evacuate before a massive fire. The system also sends signals to the nearby fire stations immediately. Therefore, it is prime important to install fire safety instruments in both residential and commercial buildings to avoid disaster.
And also, it is important to check frequently these systems functioning periodically to replace dead or missing batteries.

• Inspect fire safety equipment. Landlords are required to provide fire extinguishers to residents. It is reasonable to check this equipment periodically and assess each unit’s ingress and egress capabilities.

This action can help you identify tenants who may need help identifying fire hazards. In addition, an operational fire extinguisher is invaluable during a fire.

Anyway, as a preventive method, both tenants and landlords should be aware of fire safety features in a property before purchasing or renting a place. For instance, if you are buying real estate in College Station for personal use or as a buy-to-rent property, consider looking for a newly constructed house. You can also get assistance from realtors, perhaps ones with proper knowledge about the city and what are the major issues that persist in housing properties, including pests, dampness, molds, fire hazards and safety measures, etc. (You may even find service providers that promise: The Hudson Team is made up of professional realtors, eager to help find the home of your dreams in College Station! Give us a call.)

Similarly, tenets can also take the assistance of real estate agents that have pre-checked the properties and verified that they are well-kept and have preventive measures for safety hazards like fire accidents, electric short circuits, and more.

While the housing crisis has made fire safety more challenging, it has also demonstrated the severe outcomes when fire safety measures are not present or working. This crisis allows everyone to recognize the importance of fire safety and identify ways to make their residence safer.