Richmond renters are living through a deepening housing crisis. Our city has the second highest eviction rates in the country, with rent costs skyrocketing far beyond what wages can keep up with. Meanwhile, local officials deflect responsibility, pointing to Virginia’s Dillon Rule, which keeps housing policy under state control. Instead of enacting real protections, they funnel federal funds to private developers to build so-called ‘affordable’ housing—most of which is priced above market rate and fuels displacement and gentrification. This is the real estate state.
At every level, the government prioritizes real estate profits over people. The state, city, and federal governments are deeply tied to the real estate lobby, investing in housing as a commodity rather than a human right. Most politicians are landlords or homeowners benefiting from rising property values—few, if any, are renters. It’s no surprise that tenant protections remain an afterthought.
No one is coming to save us, but we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. The solution is in our hands at the start of each month when we hand over our rent–a tribute that weakens us and which the landlords depend on. We strike flint to tinder when we come together as renters and recognize our shared position alongside our contradictory position with our landlords, who do not provide housing but rather hoard it to create artificial scarcity. We bring the solution to life when we organize, i.e. when tenants work together to leverage our collective power. In doing so we protect each other and strengthen our communities.
Strategy
Tenant Consciousness
We’re in this together! We share information, synthesize our experiences, strengthen our leadership and organizing skills, identify gaps in resources, and connect tenants with allies–the greatest of which is their own neighbors.
Building Capacity
By practicing democracy in our neighborhood councils and citywide union to coordinate as renters, we build collective power to end evictions and support safe housing.
Tenant-led Communities
To shift the balance of power toward a future of community-owned and managed housing, we’re re-centering the people closest to the problem as part of the solution.