Rent control reduces housing supply

From Cafe Hayek.

"The Editorial Board of the Washington Post makes the case that Comrade Mamdani’s rent-control policy violates the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment.

A group of landlords has filed suit, arguing that the mayor’s office improperly interfered in what should be an independent regulatory decision. The board is also required to conduct an independent economic analysis before a vote, but the plaintiffs say the board had already made up its mind.

After her resignation in protest ahead of the vote, the board’s former landlord representative, Christina Smyth, said the members crossed a “legal line” because their vote wasn’t based on evidence.

A court overturning the rent freeze would be an economic gift for the democratic socialist, even if he doesn’t realize it.

New York’s rent-stabilized housing market is near its breaking point. Before the new policy, landlords were only allowed to raise rents 3 percent per year, which often did not cover maintenance costs. Nearly 60,000 rent-stabilized apartments in the city were vacant last year. That’s an increase of 8,000 from the year before.

Expect more vacancies when the freeze goes into effect in October. When San Francisco implemented rent controls in the 1990s, housing supply dropped by 15 percent."