Rent Control Revisited

This is a great example of how rent control actually hurts the very people it is intended to help. Fact is, rent control is actually the enemy of affordability.

From the piece:

“Nearly all residents of the R.V. Park of San Rafael received eviction notices this week after the property owner lost a rent battle [with the residents] in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.”

A link to the piece is found here

How NOT to Make Housing More Affordable

“Economists from both the left and the right have a well-established aversion to rent control, arguing that such policies ignore the message of rising prices, which is to build more housing. Studies in San Francisco and elsewhere show that price caps often prompt landlords to abandon the rental business by converting their units to owner-occupied homes. “

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/business/economy/california-rent-control.html

We Need More Housing, Not More Rent Control

“Like rent control, these questions of housing prices boil down to the basics. When the supply of housing stock is artificially restricted thanks to legislation, we inevitably get more expensive housing. However, it is not sufficient to say ‘let the market handle it’ when trying to offer an alternative policy to rent control.

There’s plenty of government intervention that impedes market mechanisms from providing affordable housing. Instead, we must point to specific policies, such as zoning rules, that make it more difficult to build housing. These regulations are the main culprits behind these rising housing prices. To win this debate, free market proponents must offer the solution of land-use liberalization, which entails repealing these measures.”

https://mises.org/wire/we-need-more-housing-not-more-rent-control

Photo Credit: Mises Institute