Every year, Portland Tenants United conducts a survey of renters and provides a report to share with the community what issues tenants are facing and which issues we want to see addressed.
Read PTU's 2022 Renter Survey report
When asked to describe their overall housing experience in 2022, many tenants shared that they felt anxious and frustrated with their living conditions, landlord relations, and overall precarity. Frequently tenants reported that they felt stuck – that their housing costs and habitability issues were escalating,
but that seeking out other options felt impossible due to the competitive housing market and myriad challenges of moving. As one tenant put it, “Can’t afford to stay where you are, but can’t afford to move either.” Even some tenants who described their current situations as manageable expressed feeling anxious that this could change at any moment. As another tenant shared, “I've moved every year since I left home at 18, and the thought of rent increasing up to 14% is terrifying. I finally found a nice home and I'm afraid......just nothing is permanent. Everything is temporary. It's hard to relax.” Low-income renters, tenants with disabilities, and parents of young children felt especially impacted by this precarity. “I spent so much effort finding spaces that worked for me, and in both instances I was pushed out before being there a year,” one respondent described. “Being poor or disabled means that a move is much more than an inconvenience, it can upend months or even years of progress, savings, habit building and stability.”
Past renter surveys
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