Gift or hardship: A proposed reframing of home buyout programs in the U.S.

Abstract

With increasing development in floodplains and growing flooding losses, governments are looking for ways to permanently reduce flood exposure. Buyouts, property acquisition programs that relocate households out of hazardous locations, are an increasingly popular measure proposed in the wake of disasters to reduce future losses and jumpstart household recovery. Research to date, however, has shown that buyouts are much more than just relocating a structure: these are complex interventions that often take longer than expected to implement and have lasting consequences for participating households and communities. Here, we propose that buyouts, as a policy tool, have been miscast as a mitigation measure typically applied during disaster recovery. We propose a reconceptualization of buyouts as a tool for managed retreat: defining buyouts solely as a mitigation measure, not as a tool for enabling recovery, and acknowledging the sacrifice that relocating requires. This shift would lay the groundwork for more inclusive, effective, and equitable relocation of at-risk households and communities.