Heather McAlpine was reminded of her home, lost to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, when she saw a one-bedroom cottage with a rustic charm listed for rent.
However, just two hours after spotting the listing, it was already taken. She is among tens of thousands displaced by the fires, now competing for housing in one of the most expensive and competitive regions in the country, largely due to a shortage of available properties.
McAlpine had resided in her Altadena house for four years and is currently living with her boyfriend. The surge in rental prices doesn’t surprise her. “I know they’re expensive, and it sucks,” she said.. Those who were barely managing before the fires now face an overwhelming search for accommodation following the January blazes that wiped out entire neighbourhoods.
The LA fires obliterated over 16,000 homes, businesses and other structures in affluent Pacific Palisades and working-class Altadena, where according to US Census data, 22% of homes were rented. It’s challenging to precisely measure how the wildfires have impacted the rental market, but LA rents increased faster than national prices in January compared to the previous month, as per housing platform Zillow.
The recent fires have intensified the already challenging housing situation, with competition from dislocated residents expected to exacerbate affordability issues, overcrowding, and homelessness, according to Sarah Karlinsky, research director at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley.
In LA County, she notes, over half of all renter households – amounting to about 1 million – are already spending 30% or more of their income on rent.
Shane Phillips from the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies anticipates housing prices will jump considerably for several months or even years. “There’s only so many people moving at any given time, and suddenly adding another 20,000 households to that amount is just an extraordinary pressure,” Phillips remarked.
Redfin’s chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, observed a 50% surge in LA County rental pageviews on their platform compared to last year. She foresees a future with “shorter supply, more fierce competition for rentals.”
Following the fires, outrageous rental prices appeared almost instantly, leading to the formation of an impromptu coalition of tenant organizers, web programmers, and others who collectively tracked illegal rent hikes. Named the Rent Brigade, this team identified over 1,300 instances of unlawful rent increases advertised between Jan. 7 and Jan. 18 –many of which have been taken down or re-advertised at reduced rates.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been vocal about the state’s anti-gouging laws, which restrict price hikes to no more than 10% above pre-emergency levels. Despite this, his office has initiated three misdemeanor criminal charges for price-gouging.
Wendy Dlakic, who was shelling out roughly $3,000 monthly for a two-bedroom condo in Altadena that’s now unlivable, believes even a 10% cap is excessive. Currently relying on the hospitality of friends, family, and Airbnb stays, Dlakic, an educator who relocated to Southern California two years ago, finds the cost of living challenging.
“It was already expensive,” she remarked. “It’s tough to be in LA on one income. You’re right on the edge, you know? ” As of January 31, Zillow reported the “typical rent” in the U.S. at $1,968, a slight increase of 0.2% from the month before.
However, in the LA metro area, the typical rent rose by 0.8% to $2,954. Zillow’s typical rent figure is derived from averaging the middle 30% of rental prices.
Daniel Yukelson, the executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, contends that the concerns over rent-gouging are exaggerated by tenant advocates and expresses frustration over Bonta’s decision to press criminal charges. “Some mistakes were unknowingly made,” he stated. “If these infractions were pointed out to these few owners, corrections would have surely been made immediately,”.
McAlpine, who had to abandon her in-law unit when the Eaton Fire threatened her area while she was aiding with evacuations as a member of the Altadena Mountain Rescue Team, managed to collect her cat, ski equipment, and camera gear before escaping the small 300-square-foot (28-square-meter) cottage.
She’s thankful for the support she’s received through GoFundMe, which will assist with basic needs, but is stressed about finding an independent place close to nature that fits into her rent and utilities budget of $1,800 per month.
The photographer and her boyfriend were eyeing a certain cottage listed at $2,750 a month, and although their combined resources mean a larger budget, they find the search disheartening.
McAlpine expressed her frustration, saying: “I’m quickly looking for the photos. ‘Oh, does this look sketchy or not? ‘ Or, ‘you know, is this the right price? ‘” She added, “It’s just very different from how I would normally look for a place to live.”
