In Mexican cities, somewhere between one-third and one-half of all households rent or share accommodation. Over the years, even though rental housing has been in relative decline, the absolute numbers of tenant households have been increasing. Recently, because home ownership has become increasingly expensive, the Mexican state has been anxious to expand the stock of rental housing. However, its policies do not seem to be directed towards the majority of landlords, in part, at least, because the nature of the landlordism is not well understood. This paper examines the main features of landlords and landlordism in two major cities of Mexico, Guadalajara and Puebla. Based on surveys with tenants and landlords, it examines how landlords obtained their property, why they began to rent it, their socio-economic characteristics, their perceptions of the business of renting, and the mechanics of setting rent levels and selecting tenants.
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