An organization called the National Multi Housing Council has released a new study promoting the virtues of renters, essentially pleading that you don't have to be a homeowner to be an honorable member of American society.

Officials at the Washington-based NMHC say the study is not targeted at any individual, organization or government agency -- but insiders privately concede they are getting tired of NAR, the Home Builders and HUD suggesting that anyone who doesn't own their own home is a second class citizen.

"Where it really shows is when you go into a community and you want to build an apartment complex, and all these REALTORS® show up (at municipal hearings) talking about what kind of people will it bring in and what it will do to housing values," said an NMHC manager.

"There is a lot of emotion out there and a lot of misconceptions."

They also concede, however, that any kind of counter-promotion against homeownership -- or NAR, the Home Builders or HUD -- is simply out of the question. "There are multi-housing components inside both the Realtors and the Builders," the manager said. "And, of course, a lot of what HUD does involves multi housing."

The study, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, "refutes the notion that homeowners are better citizens and neighbors than are renters."

Among NMHC's findings:

• Renters are more social: Fully 32.7 percent of apartment residents report spending a social evening at least weekly with someone who lives in their neighborhood, compared to 16.5 percent of house owners.
• Renters are joiners: Equal percentages of house owners and apartment residents (21.8 percent) are members of sports groups; while 10.3 percent of apartment residents are members of a literary, art, discussion or study group, compared to 10.8 percent of house owners.
• Renters are fairly religious: About 44.0 percent of apartment residents attend religious services at least once a month, while 54.7 percent of home owners attend church with the same frequency.
• Renters like their communities: 60.3 percent of apartment residents said they felt "close" or "very close" toward their town or city, which the NMHC’s was not statistically different from the general population, of whom about 59.2 percent feel close to their city.
• Renters are involved in politics: 65.9 percent said they were "very interested" or "somewhat interested" in politics and national affairs, approximately matching the national average (65.3 percent) reporting such levels of interest.

Jack Goodman, NMHC Vice President of Research, said, "these misconceptions about the participation of apartment residents in their communities contribute to land use decisions and tax policies that disadvantage both apartment residents and property owners. But the data show that many apartment residents are far more engaged in their local community than are their house owning neighbors.

Added NMHC President Jonathan Kempner, "Apartment residents should get much more credit for being good neighbors and active participants in their local communities. The differences between house owners and apartment residents have clearly been overstated."

Published: July 1, 1999

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