Everyone wants to pay less for what they need to buy and charge more for what they need to sell. This is the essence of any market and this desire is clearly reflected in the phenomenon of rent control. Rent control arises out of the idea that landlords tend to charge too much for rent, and when their costs can be largely fixed through long-term financing, amd when asset bubbles tend to inflate the value of apartment buildings, landlords seem to be making obscene amounts of money. A competitive market would see increased rent leading to increased vacancy, but when asset prices continue to rise, the money from rent can be overshadowed by the gain in equity and therefore vacancies aren't a big problem for landlords.
The problem here is that rent control is too easy to implement and has externalities. It's basically more complicated than it seems. Many more people rent than own so it's not hard to pass. Externalities exist however such as tendency toward transactionality wherein less is spent maintaining and improving buildings, and at least one study (to be cited) showed a relationship between rent control and lower nearby home values.
A more accurate problem is the asset bubble fueled by cheap financing and money printing that leads to it. Land used to be seen as a productive asset but in an asset bubble, productivity takes a back seat to mere existence.
Everyone wants to pay less for what they need to buy and charge more for what they need to sell. This is the essence of any market and this desire is clearly reflected in the phenomenon of rent control. Rent control arises out of the idea that landlords tend to charge too much for rent, and when their costs can be largely fixed through long-term financing, amd when asset bubbles tend to inflate the value of apartment buildings, landlords seem to be making obscene amounts of money. A competitive market would see increased rent leading to increased vacancy, but when asset prices continue to rise, the money from rent can be overshadowed by the gain in equity and therefore vacancies aren't a big problem for landlords.
The problem here is that rent control is too easy to implement and has externalities. It's basically more complicated than it seems. Many more people rent than own so it's not hard to pass. Externalities exist however such as tendency toward transactionality wherein less is spent maintaining and improving buildings, and at least one study (to be cited) showed a relationship between rent control and lower nearby home values.
A more accurate problem is the asset bubble fueled by cheap financing and money printing that leads to it. Land used to be seen as a productive asset but in an asset bubble, productivity takes a back seat to mere existence.