Greg Brown: Rent Control Is A Failed Policy
October 30, 2019 | Kelsi Maree Borland | GlobeSt.com
“Rent control is a failed policy,” said Greg Brown, SVP for government affairs at the National Apartment Association, in the opening panel at GlobeSt Apartments in Los Angeles yesterday. Brown kicked off the two-day conference, speaking on the An Economic and Regulatory Briefing: What’s Possibly Ahead for the Multifamily Sector? panel, moderated by Ed Zimbler, senior managing director conventional organization at Berkadia.
The discussion focused on rent control regulations across the country, including California, which most recently passed a statewide rent control measure. “Forty years of research has proven rent control is the wrong answer. It is a failed policy. Full stop,” he said.
Part of the problem is the lack of available for-sale housing, which has kept renters in the multifamily market longer than in past generations. Brown said that homeownership continues to decline while the number of renters increases. Nationally, there are 36 million apartment residents. As a result, housing affordability has become a key topic, and it is fueling the call for rent control.
