{"id":153478,"date":"2026-02-12T20:43:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/153478\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T20:43:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:43:06","slug":"jacksonville-rents-surged-post-pandemic-a-new-book-examines-why-and-calls-attention-to-the-affordability-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/153478\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville rents surged post-pandemic. A new book examines why and calls attention to the affordability crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 When rents began skyrocketing across the country, Jacksonville didn\u2019t just feel the impact, it ranked among the top five U.S. cities<\/a> with the fastest rent increases.<\/p>\n

Click here for more Addressing Affordability coverage.<\/a><\/p>\n

That surge prompted two local housing advocates to take a closer look at what\u2019s driving housing costs in Northeast Florida and who is benefiting. Their findings are now laid out in a new book that examines Jacksonville as a case study in a growing national affordability crisis.<\/p>\n

David Jaffe and Katie Renzi are the co-authors of The Financialization of Human Shelter: The Rental Housing Crisis in a Sunbelt City<\/a>, a forthcoming publication that explores how corporate and institutional investors have increasingly reshaped the local rental market.<\/p>\n

Read an excerpt from the book below.<\/p>\n

Jaffe launched the Jacksonville Rental Housing Project<\/a> in 2022, following what he describes as an \u201cunprecedented rise\u201d in rents nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen that happened, I decided it made sense to do a deeper analysis,\u201d Jaffe said.<\/p>\n

Jaffe and Renzi also help lead the Jax Tenants Union<\/a>. Their work focuses on housing affordability, tenant rights and the impact of large-scale investors on local neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Renzi said the book\u2019s opening chapter introduces the concept of the \u201cfinancialization of human shelter,\u201d which is the treatment of housing primarily as a profit-generating asset rather than a basic human need.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not unique to Jacksonville or the Sunbelt,\u201d Renzi said. \u201cBut it is exacerbated here because of the business conditions and policies that exist, which allow corporations to take advantage of these markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Renzi, one of the book\u2019s key takeaways is the growing presence of institutional and corporate investors in Jacksonville\u2019s single-family and multifamily housing market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re investing in real estate here to make a profit,\u201d Renzi said. \u201cAnd those tend to be the owners who are the least invested in the well-being of residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said those properties often see higher rates of building code violations and evictions compared with locally owned rentals.<\/p>\n

For Jaffe, the motivation behind the research is personal and practical.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about bringing light to something that\u2019s affecting working people in Jacksonville,\u201d he said. \u201cClearly, we need better rights and protections for tenants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both advocates have pushed for a city-managed rental registry, which would track rental properties and ownership. They say such a system could improve accountability and help the city better enforce housing codes.<\/p>\n

Florida law limits many tenant protections that are common in other states, Renzi said, making it difficult for cities to enact stronger renter safeguards.<\/p>\n

\u201cNearly all tenant protections are preempted at the state level,\u201d she said. \u201cBut building code enforcement is one area where Jacksonville could do more to improve living conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaffe said two policy ideas they believe are still allowed under state law include a rental registry and the creation of a local office of housing resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cTenants need a place to go,\u201d Jaffe said. \u201cSomewhere to get information, file complaints and understand their rights. Right now, many people have no idea where to turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through the tenants union, Jaffe said he receives multiple emails each week from renters dealing with unsafe conditions, eviction threats or unanswered maintenance issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only so much we can do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Renzi, who began working on the project as a student, said the work is challenging but meaningful.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a thankless fight in a lot of ways,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it feels good to be part of something that\u2019s trying to engage the community and understand who in Jacksonville is most affected by this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Financialization of Human Shelter: The Rental Housing Crisis in a Sunbelt City will be available for purchase next month. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 When rents began skyrocketing across the country, Jacksonville didn\u2019t just feel the impact, it ranked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[15852,15851,1571,116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-153478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-addressing-a4dability","9":"tag-addressing-affordability","10":"tag-affordable-housing","11":"tag-jacksonville","12":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","13":"tag-jacksonville-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}