Reject Rent Control and Eviction Moratoria

Author: Joel Griffith, Senior Research Fellow

Affordability 101 · Chapter 4: Freedom to Build

Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise

Topline

Rent control and eviction moratoria shrink the supply of rental housing, deter new construction and upkeep, and erode fundamental private property rights. Lawmakers at every level should reject these price and occupancy controls.

Background

Rental costs rose roughly 51% over the past decade, outpacing overall inflation. Laws that artificially depress rents, impede evictions, and handcuff property managers do nothing to solve the affordable housing problem. When cities like Portland, New York City, and San Francisco adopt such policies, they deter construction of new units and can leave renters stuck in more dilapidated conditions as landlords have less incentive to spend on upkeep and remodeling.

Economist Assar Lindbeck once cautioned, “In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.” Vietnam’s leadership linked the abject condition of Hanoi’s housing in 1989 to rent control. Then-Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach said, “The Americans couldn’t destroy Hanoi, but we have destroyed our city by very low rents.”

Action Items (Congress, Federal Executive Branch, States)

• Lawmakers should reject federal rent-control schemes, including proposals to cap annual rent increases nationwide and the 2024 White House proposal to condition depreciation schedules on 5% rent caps.
• States such as Oregon, California, Washington, and New York should repeal statewide rent caps.
• Congress should prevent federal agencies from imposing eviction moratoria.
• State legislatures should preclude municipalities from imposing rent control or unnecessary barriers to evictions.

How It Would Make Life More Affordable

• Rejecting rent control and eviction moratoria would restore incentives to build and maintain rental housing.
• Ending the threat of price controls and perpetual squatters would reduce the rent premium that landlords require to justify absorbing such risks.
• It would preserve the rule of law, property rights, and contract enforcement, which underpin the long-term investment needed for housing abundance.

Notable Harmful Federal Proposals

• Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) “Housing for All” national rent-control plan.
• The 2024 White House federal rent-cap proposal.

Bottomline

Rent control and eviction moratoria have failed where they’ve been tried. Policymakers should learn from these mistakes and reject these controls.

This memo is part of Affordability 101, Advancing American Freedom’s playbook of 101 policy solutions to make life more affordable.

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