A couple of weeks ago we asked readers of Domain’s online pages whether they would be more or less likely to rent a home if there was a no-smoking clause in the lease.
An amazing 84 percent of voters (out of about 760) said they would be more likely to rent where smokers had been given the flick.
The rest represent roughly the same numbers as smokers – so no surprise there. But others prefer not to live with smokers – or even, perhaps, in a home that smokers used to occupy.
Smoking is going to be one of the great battlegrounds in strata over the next few years as people object to “fireflies” – people who puff away on their balconies because they aren’t allowed to smoke in their own homes.
But if you’re smoking outside your apartment, it’s also outside half a dozen neighbours’ too … only they don’t get any warning. And then there are the heavy smokers who open their doors to clear the smoke out of their flats and into hallways.
Most apartment blocks already have by-laws that forbid smoking on common property. But will anyone have the nerve to impose them?
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