Rent Control Benefits Offset by Costs

A working paper published in the National Bureau for Economic Research finds that while tenants who benefited from rent control policies in San Francisco between 1995 and 2012 gained about $2.9 billion collectively, the citywide rent increases over that time also amounted to $2.9 billion, offsetting those gains. Rent controlled buildings over that period saw a 15% decline in the number of renter residents and a 25% decline in tenants living in rent controlled units. The rental housing stock also decreased by 6%, exacerbating affordability issues throughout the city. Rebecca Diamond, assistant professor of economics at Stanford University, suggests that more effective policies could include raising revenue through a tax and providing subsidies in the form of a renter tax credit. Read more.