A number of measures exist to protect tenants from the myriad issues they may face in a housing crisis, and which we explore on this website—from skyrocketing rents to unsafe housing conditions to displacement. The most prominent of these are: rent control, rent stabilization, just cause eviction protections, and support services for tenants, such as legal aid and rental assistance. Of these rent control, stabilization, and eviction protection—which we’ll refer to collectively as rent regulations—are seeing a resurgence of interest, as well as debate and research.

Popular demand for restricting rent increases has occurred historically in times of acute housing shortfalls and rent gouging, such as in the U.S. during World War II, in the 1980s, and again in the current period.  Early rent regulations typically included a hard cap on rents, but beginning in the 1970s and 80s, a “second generation” of rent regulation was more moderate.  Rent regulations today typically allow rents to rise with cost of living and maintenance, include rent boards with both landlord and tenant representation, and seek to stabilize housing through restrictions on evictions.[1, 2]

As Pastor et al note, “Evidence on the impacts of these more moderate rent regimes is more mixed than older economics textbooks might indicate.” [3]  Many of these economic analyses, referencing earlier laws, are premised on the assumption that regulations create a “price ceiling,” which generally they no longer do. [4] In addition, economic analyses are often narrowly framed, disregarding the broader policy contexts in which local rent laws are situated.  For instance, a recent, oft-cited Stanford study on rent control in San Francisco suggests that local regulations lead landlords to take units off the market through condo conversion or owner move-in evictions, thus causing gentrification.[5] Yet these reactions are themselves enabled by California laws from the 1990s— the Ellis Act and Costa Hawkins— that created loopholes for landlords to circumvent rent regulations in precisely these ways.  Further, other studies show that gentrification can be caused by the elimination of rent control.

Where there is greater consensus, including among economists and scholars in public policy and planning, is that tenant protections are successful in achieving their primary goal of stabilizing communities and mitigating displacement. [6] Rent regulations are not means-tested, and so are something of a “blunt instrument” in allocating these affordable housing resources. Nonetheless, profiles of rent controlled tenants in California show that they reflect the profile of the state’s tenants in general, disproportionately including low income residents and people of color, as well as vulnerable populations like seniors and people with disabilities.[7]

This increased renter stability —like stability for homeowners—has broad social, economic, and environmental benefits.   There are costs associated with stability: less turnover means profits from real estate increase more slowly and fewer people can move into existing housing. On the other hand, increased stability also means schools can retain teachers, public health outcomes are enhanced, residents have more income to spend locally, small businesses can hire the workers they need to stay afloat, and more people can afford to live near their jobs, reducing traffic and greenhouse gas emissions.  Meanwhile, other policies can address increasing the supply of housing for newcomers or those un-housed.

Under today’s moderate rent regulations, landlords can continue to make a fair and predictable return on investment, by law, while also receiving pro-bono legal aid from rent boards.  Many landlords understandably remain opposed —to added bureaucracy, fees, and a shift in the power dynamic between them and their tenants.  But for others, these costs are outweighed by the benefits of regulations to the community, and the fact that they can continue to prosper.  Hence, support for rent regulation in California has been growing not only among tenants, but also among homeowners, landlords, and real estate professionals.