The Washington herald., 1914-03-29
Must a Tenant Pay More IF
His Home Is Made Sanitary?

provements are usually followed by
higher rents. That this conclusion is
wrong Is indicated by q study Of the
effect OF improvements upon rents made
by the Philadelphia housing commits
sion.
For two years the Philadelphia housing
commission has been active In forcing
the repair of defective properties. Some
of the repairs were structural in char
acter. Weak walls were strengthened or
fire escapes were required. Others were
of G sanitary nature calling perhaps for
the cleaning, filling and abandoning of
yard vaults and the installation of water
closets. Many were less expensive, con-
sisting only of the laying of pipes and
the placing of fixtures for additional wa
ter. or the repair OF defective plumning
and leaky roofs.
The average rent was s1e. although the
extremes ranged from Sc to $50 per month.
The average cost OF the forced improve
ments amounted 10 about six months
rent. In some of the smaller properties,
where assessments were levied for street
improvements. at the same time the
tatai cost to the owner absorbed full
years return In other cases where the
houses were let for from $40 to SO per
month the cost of the changes averaged
500 per mouse. AS the houses were inn
proved Upon the complaint OF the COM
mission 4 was possible for the inspect
ors top ge: accurate data covering the
rents paid before and after the changes
were made. In all, l54o house records
were occurred. For 1886 houses the rents
did not change. For I26 the increases
varied frcm 80 cents to 81. In each of
IS cases there was a decrease OF 81
month. The study thus showed that only
SIS per cent OF the houses had higher
rents after improvements were made,
while III per cent had lower and s06j
Per cent remained unchanged.
Factors Controlling Rents.
It would be wrong to suppose that
forced Improvements did not affect rents
at ALL for the study shows n wide diff
ference in the percentage of increase be-
tween properties I'm old and new areas
Information for .2SS houses was obtained
by block canvass. OF these, 500 were
in the new area and 7S5 were in the old.
vet the percentage of increase for the
former was 1853 per cent while for the
latter II was only 5.S per cent. In the
older area, also. the percentage Of de-
creased rentals following improvements
was L9 per cent as contrasted with a
trifle over one-half of l per cent in the
newer area.
The investigation indicates that definite
optIdlt 10 COuNTOl
serve to check their increase. Principal
among these are: First, the tendency Of
neighborhood to work toward its maxi
mum rental, which does not easily
change after having been reached; and
second, the supply of and demand for
houses. The older a neighborhood is, the
stronger is the likelihood that il has
reached its maximum rental condition
and that this rental will remain station
ary even after improvements unless the
number of occupants per house becomes
greater. The foregoing figures would
seem to indicate this. Moreover, the
majority of houses in our cities are held
as investments or for speculation. Few
are privately owned. This creates a
large competing class among tenants but
IL also creates a large competing class
among owners. When the supply OF
houses exceeds the demand. as 1t does
in Philadelphia by over 10000 houses. the
among tenants Is reduced
while that among owners for tenanted is
increased. Under such A condition the
tenant. to the extent that he Is willing
to move when dissatisfied, controls the
situation.