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The Economics of Rent Control

SSRN, ISSN: 1556-5068
2018
  • 0
    Citations
  • 3,224
    Usage
  • 3
    Captures
  • 1
    Mentions
  • 0
    Social Media
Metric Options:   Counts1 Year3 Year

Metrics Details

  • Usage
    3,224
    • Abstract Views
      2,474
    • Downloads
      750
  • Captures
    3
  • Mentions
    1
    • News Mentions
      1
      • 1
  • Ratings
    • Download Rank
      67,895

Most Recent News

Price Controls Are Harmful And Their Supporters Know It

https://pixabay.com Price controls cause serious problems but that doesn’t stop politicians from proposing them. The minimum wage—which is a control on wages—has been in the

Article Description

Affordable housing is on the minds of voters and state and local officials across the country. One policy often proposed to temper high rents is rent control. In its most basic form rent control is a government-imposed cap on rent and using it as a means of keeping rents below the market rate is an old idea, dating to at least the 16th century. But while rent control may seem like an easy way to control housing prices, the bulk of the evidence shows that it’s an inefficient policy with several negative side effects. Rent control decreases the amount of rental housing, raises prices in the uncontrolled sector, reduces the quality of rental units, leads to a misallocation of units, and decreases tenant mobility. It also transfers wealth from landlords to tenants even though some landlords are poorer than their tenants, and this may foster hostility between the two groups. Instead of rent control, cities can make housing more affordable by allowing more building to enable the filtering process to work. They can also provide rent subsidies to alleviate any remaining affordability issues. By looking beyond rent control, cities can help create more affordable housing options for lower-income people.

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