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Contact: lppipress@luskin.ucla.edu

New UCLA Research Finds Most Fire-Impacted Rental Housing In Altadena Shows No Signs Of Rebuilding One Year After The Eaton Fire
About 74% of rental units in the fire perimeter remain on properties with no public recovery action 

LOS ANGELES (February 25, 2026)—More than one year after the Eaton Fire, a new policy brief by UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI) finds the majority of fire-impacted rental housing has shown little measurable progress towards recovery. About 74% of identified rental units located within the fire perimeter remain on properties with no public record of rebuilding permits, property sales, or active listings. 

The research also finds that Altadena’s tenants entered the disaster with fewer economic protections than homeowners. Before the fire, tenant households had substantially lower incomes, higher poverty rates, and significantly higher rent burdens. Without targeted policy intervention, researchers warn that displaced tenants may face long-term or permanent displacement from the community.

The policy brief, authored by Gabriella Carmona, Vinit Mukhija, Sofia Barajas, Mariah Bonilla, Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, Xalma Palomino, and Ana Lua Martel, documents how Altadena’s housing stock—much of it old, small-scale, and family-sized— sustained widespread fire damage. It also shows how rent-stabilized and naturally affordable units were disproportionately affected, raising concerns about whether displaced tenants will be able to return.

Key findings include: 

• Seven in 10 rental units were located within the fire perimeter. More than 1,500 rental units—representing 70% of Altatadena’s identified rental stock — were located within the Eaton Fire perimeter. Of those, 927 units were on properties where buildings sustained severe structural damage (50% or more of the building destroyed by the fire). 
• Rental housing recovery has largely stalled. 74% of fire-impacted rentals remain on properties with no public record of rebuilding permits, sales, or market listings one year after the fire. Only 18% of rental units are on properties that have filed rebuilding permits, compared to 23% of severely damaged single-family homeowner properties (seven months after the fire). 
• Rent-stabilized housing sustained widespread damage. Altadena had at least 792 recorded rent-stabilized units prior to the fire, representing more than one-third of its rental market. Two-thirds of those units were located within the fire perimeter, and 39 percent were on properties with severe structural damage.
• Affordable family-sized units face an uncertain future. Rent-stabilized two-bedroom units rented for $600 less per month than non-rent-stabilized (market-rate), and three-bedroom units rented for about $700 less. Many of the naturally affordable non-rent-stabilized units destroyed by the fire also rented for 17% below the average of non-rent-stabilized units that were not destroyed by the fire.  

The policy brief emphasizes that disaster recovery systems are largely designed around property ownership, leaving tenants with fewer pathways to return and limited control over rebuilding decisions. 

The authors call for immediate policy action to prevent permanent displacement, including: 

• Provide interim and temporary housing stability for displaced residents such as funding master leasing at scale and standardizing coordinated disaster case management.

• Improve access to land and capital to enable public and nonprofit entities to acquire fire-impacted properties and redevelop them with long-term affordability in mind. 
• Streamline approvals for small-scale multifamily housing such as duplexes, fourplexes, and bungalow courts through fast-track permitting and better SB9 implementation and incentives that can rebuild affordability while maintaining community character. 
• Build countywide rental data infrastructure to track rental housing, assess displacement, and enforce tenant protections in both disaster and non-disaster contexts. 

“Rent stabilization in Altadena had strong affordability benefits, particularly for family-size units,” said Carmona, senior research analyst at LPPI. “The fire appears to have removed many of these naturally affordable units from the market and without targeted intervention, displaced tenants face an uphill battle to return.” 

Katie Clark, a member of LPPI’s Altadena Research Advisory Board and organizer and co-founder of the Altadena Tenants Union, added: “Since the fire, many of our Altadena neighbors have been scattered across the Los Angeles region: folks are living in their cars, piecing together temporary housing, moving dozens of times, or doubling up with family. Without properties to rebuild or control over landlord decisions, we tenants have largely remained invisible in this recovery. This data underscores not just the severity of that crisis but also the irreplaceable role that Altadena renters and tenants have always played in the fabric of our community. The policy recommendations in this report — from access to capital to preserving Altadena’s affordable housing — are critical steps towards ensuring that our neighbors aren’t permanently displaced from the community we’ve called home.” 

Read the full policy brief. 

This policy brief marks the second in a series of analyses on the wildfire recovery efforts in Altadena.

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About UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute is a non-partisan research institute that seeks to inform, engage, and empower Latinos through innovative research and policy analysis. LPPI aims to promote equitable and inclusive policies that address the needs of the Latino community and advance social justice. latino.ucla.edu.