Rent control policies are gaining momentum on the campaign trail and in statehouses. New research, though, confirms something economists have argued for a long time: rent control has serious adverse effects that undermine its rationale.
The study
examines the effects of a rent control ballot measure passed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in November 2021, on property values. … [Researchers found that t]he law decreased rental property values by reducing expected future rental income and landlords’ incentives to invest in maintenance.
In addition,
the effects of Saint Paul’s rent control law varied significantly by the income levels of renters, landlords, and owner-occupants. On average, rent control generated financial gains for renters and losses for owners, as expected. However, higher-income renters gained more than lower-income renters. … [Also,] lower-income landlords lost more wealth relative to their income than higher-income landlords. Finally, owner-occupants, despite not directly participating in the rental market, bore the greatest share of the total losses.
The study
shows that the benefits of Saint Paul’s rent control law are distributed regressively to renters, while the costs are distributed regressively to landlords.
Cross-posted from Substack
