[Dilbert San Diego]

I’ve heard that rent control severly hurt New York City real estate, and actually led to a decline in availability of apartments. I’ve heard that rents actually increased when new apartments come on the market.

I don’t know all the ins and outs, but I’ve heard that rent control “grandfathers” in long term tenants at a lower rent, while new tenants can be charged more. So in effect, longer term tenants get subsidized.

And, I’ve heard that New York has had thousands of abandoned apartment buildings, as landlords couldn’t raise the rent to pay their own operating costs of these buildings.

Rent control, as happens with other governmental controls, distorts the market.

[nathanbedford]

I agree in theory and in practice with every one of your observations and can conceive of no good reason to support rent control unless I were a politician running for reelection

[Tanniker Smith]

No one builds apartment buildings anymore because they could become subject to rent regulations in the futre. Better to build condos/co-ops, sell them and be done with them.

[PapaBear3625]

I’ve heard that rent control severly hurt New York City real estate, and actually led to a decline in availability of apartments. I’ve heard that rents actually increased when new apartments come on the market. I don’t know all the ins and outs, but I’ve heard that rent control “grandfathers” in long term tenants at a lower rent, while new tenants can be charged more. So in effect, longer term tenants get subsidized.

Also, a long-term tenant with a big apartment can invite relatives to live there, and when the long-term tenant dies the relatives inherit the low-rent apartment.

I think rent-control is driven by the wealthy. Not because they live in rent-controlled apartments (although some do), but because if rent control suddenly ended, and landlords thus had an incentive to improve the apartments so as to be able to rent them to upscale tenants, then the market value of NYC condos would drop.