Smoke-free apartment buildings appeal to tenants

Nearly half of Ontario's apartment dwellers say second-hand smoke seeps into their homes, and most of them would likely choose a smoke-free building if they could, says an anti-smoking group.

The Ontario Tobacco-free Network a coalition of the Canadian Cancer Society, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and the Lung Association released the results on Tuesday of two studies it commissioned.

The research, conducted by Ipsos Reid last year, showed 46 per cent of respondents said smoke from their neighbours entered their apartments.

Smoking is prohibited in elevators, hallways and other common areas in Ontario, but not in apartment residences.

The polls also show 64 per cent of multi-unit dwellers would likely choose a smoke-free building over one where smoking is permitted.

Pamela Schuller, who lives in a Toronto apartment, told CBC News she was often bothered by smoke from the apartment below hers where two heavy smokers lived. She said they moved after about six months, just as she was on the verge of moving herself.

Ipsos Reid senior vice-president John Wright said the numbers point to an untapped demand.

"This is real market data, verified by studying a large sample two times over a six-month period," Wright said in a news release. "It's a good way to differentiate your housing product. Landlords elsewhere who've tried it say it's good for business."

One of the biggest landlords in Western Canada, Globe General Agencies, has a waiting list for the smoke-free buildings it began offering last fall in Manitoba. And in Vancouver, a new condominium project being marketed as smoke-free is meeting with "fabulous demand," said Annette Denk of Sussex Realty, the agent selling units in the building.

A report from the U.S. surgeon general last year said no level of exposure to drifting smoke is risk-free.

Ipsos Reid surveyed 1,800 residents in March and November 2006. The results have a margin of error of 2.9 per cent, 19 times out of 20.