The Editorial Board at the Wall Street Journal has a great piece that explains how stricter control on rent-control apartments has actually made housing more unaffordable…(WSJ)
- What Happened. In 2019, politicians in Albany had the brillant idea to restrict “landlords’ ability to raise rents to pay for renovations and ‘de-regulate’ rent-stabilized units…Landlords used to be able to charge the market rate once the rent exceeded $2,800 a month and a tenant moved out. No longer.”
- The Result. “…landlords have removed rent-regulated apartments from the market and are leaving them vacant rather than spend on maintenance and improvements that they can’t recoup. Tighter supply has pushed up rents in the non-regulated market—one reason Manhattan’s average market-rate monthly rent has surged 30% over the last two years.”
Lower anticipated future rents have slashed property values and has investors worried about loan portfolios that contain rent-regulated properties. Which is likely to depress even more investment in affordable housing making the situation even worse.
