Secure tenure, the citizenship rights of slum dwellers, and community participation are key words in the international discourse on housing policy. This paper reports the results from a study of private rental housing and tenants in unplanned settlements in Mwanza City, Tanzania. It examines the tenants' position in Tanzanian housing policy discourse, considers government housing policy and private rental tenure practices, and explores how the discussion about secure tenure in urban areas is focused on the formalisation of land. In 2005, rental legislation was changed in Tanzania because it was thought to be overly protective of tenants. Since then, tenants in rental housing have been ignored in the national policy discourse, despite the quantitative importance of rental housing in metropolitan Tanzania. The government has concluded that home ownership is the norm in Tanzania, and it regards private rental tenure as a private matter. It does not monitor conditions in the private rental market. In this paper, I suggest that the urban housing situation in Tanzania will not improve until the government acknowledges private rental tenure, views the tenants as urban citizens, and then attends to their needs and interests. One way to start this process is to educate landlords and tenants about their rights and obligations under housing contracts. This would help to reduce the number of conflicts in rental housing and bring about a more secure tenure situation for many residents.