View source for Let tenants decide what work needs to be done

Landlords are known to renovate '''too much''' and also '''not enough''' (both are true):
# On one hand, they often neglect important repairs.
# On the other hand, they often spend good money on renovations that tenants don't want or need.
#* Tenants pay indirectly through higher rents.

==Examples of the problem==
[[File:Hallway renovation - replacing carpet with tiles.png|thumb|Tenants didn't ask for this renovation - and who knows how much it costs? It's being done on every floor of the building. Tenants are having to pay for it through '''increased rents.''' Meanwhile, more important work might be neglected.]]
===Unnecessary renovations===
Replacing things that '''aren't''' broken.
* Ripping out carpets and floors just because they're "old" and the landlord wants a new aesthetic
* Replacing kitchen interiors just because they have some stains
* Getting rid of furnishings that were perfectly usable


<tabs><tab name="A wasteful vicious cycle">
Tenants move in. They use the kitchen. The kitchen gets dirty and stained from normal use. A few years later, the tenants move out. The landlord sees the stains and thinks "ewwwww! I'll never be able to find a high-paying tenant when the kitchen looks like ''that''!". So the landlord spends money to replace the kitchen interior. The landlord might even bill the old tenants for the "damages" (or otherwise, raise the rent for the next tenant). Then the next tenant moves in, and the cycle continues.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of potential residents who would have been perfectly fine with the old kitchen interior. Cooking is way easier when you don't have to constantly worry about staining brand new stuff anyway.

''P.S. More than just the kitchen, this same story happens for stains & scratches on the floors, bathtub, etc.''
</tab>
<tab name="Why landlords do this">
Landlords may be motivated to do these things as an "investment" in hopes to attract a richer crowd of tenants - meanwhile, existing tenants are made to pay for it. This happens especially in "high demand" locations or when a city just doesn't have enough housing overall. If we [[create new walkable neighborhoods]], it might take the pressure off a bit.
</tab>
<tab name="Caveats">
* Of course there may be some buildings with richer tenants who '''want''' these renovations. But most of us just want an affordable place to live. That's why the tenants should help decide what work needs to be done.
* Maybe '''not all''' landlords behave in the ways described on this page. But enough of them do, that it needs to be talked about.
</tab></tabs>

===Neglected work===
* Fixing things that '''are''' broken.



==''Solution:'' '''Democratize''' the decision-making process==
{{light|''This section is still being planned. Join the {{tp2}}''}}
===The idea===
For larger buildings / cases where the landlord owns multiple units:
* Tenants can meet and discuss:
** What work the building needs
** What work the building ''doesn't'' need
** Simple math: How much money any of those things would realistically cost - {{p2|per month|For one-time repairs, divide by the number of months you'd expect the repair to last.}}, if split between all the tenants {{talk|Maybe I should phrase this better? I'm NOT saying that every repair should raise rents. Some of those repairs should be ALREADY covered by the current rent. The point is that we should be able to see where our rent money is going, and how the costs would change if the landlord changed its budget.}}
* Tenants pick apart the landlord's existing budget
** See where the rent money is really going
** See what could be added or cut
* Tenants can organize a vote and/or reach some consensus.
===How it could be implemented===
* Policy:
** Large landlords should be '''forced to reveal their budgets''' to the public, for tenants to see.
*** <small>Tenants should be able to see, ahead of time, any '''work''' the landlord is planning.</small>
** Tenants deserve the legal right to hold a meeting in some common part of the building, without the landlord saying "you're not allowed to be here".
** When tenant unions reach a well-formed consensus, it should be legally binding for landlords to follow {{talk|Of course this would require some sort of feasibility check, to filter out impossible demands. But such a filter has to be done fairly, so that it doesn't shut down good ideas from tenants. Need more discussion on how this could work - what should the rules of feasibility look like?}}
* [[Tenant unions]] / collective bargaining
* Simple way to start, maybe:
** Just get together with neighbors to talk.
*** <small>No need to plan anything official. No need to wait for policy changes. We can start now in our communities, probably.</small>
** This wiki could also serve as a discussion platform, maybe even on local level, maybe even individual buildings.
*** <small>Ideas can be re-used, so that people don't have to reinvent the wheel for every case.</small>


==Discussions still needed for this page==
{{pn-block|
* What about smaller-scale landlords? How should it work in that case?
* How to make sure that tenant meetings don't become too long, tedious, bureaucratic and unnecessarily labor-intensive?
* How can I get the ball rolling, to meet with other tenants in my building?
}}

==Next steps / actions to take{{fists}}==
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==See also==
* [[Lower the cost of housing]]
* [[No expensive cosmetic renovations]]
* [[Stop renovictions]]
* [[Diverse standards for residential buildings]]