Los Angeles to double down on rent control folly

This month, the Los Angeles City Council decided the city's longstanding rent control policy needed changes.

No, they didn't do the smart thing and decide to eliminate rent control. Instead, they proposed updates that will only make a bad policy worse.

While property owners subject to the city's Rent Stabilization Ordinance are allowed to raise rents 3% annually or higher depending on inflation, the new policy sets tighter caps on rents.

As reported by LAist, under the plan approved by 12 of the 15 councilmembers "rent increases would be capped at 4% annually, and an additional 2% increase for landlords who cover utilities would be eliminated."

"Extraordinary rent increases are driving people out of the city," said democratic socialist Councilmember Nithya Raman to justify the action.

Raman might want to reflect on the reality that the city has had rent contol on the books for decades and the city's housing affordability problem has only gotten worse.

It's as though artificial constraints by government on the rental market deter suppliers of rental housing from entering the market and even prompts many to exit it.

Who knew?

If the Los Angeles City Council cracked open an Economics 101 textbook they'd know this. Or, they could just Google it.

Research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2018 found that rent control in San Francisco resulted in reduced rental housing supply and as a result of that reduced supply pressed prices up in units that remained on the market.

Indeed, as Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck famously said, "In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city - except for bombing."

If Los Angeles or other California cities like Pasadena going down the delusional path of control want to fix their housing markets, it's not complicated: Legalize more housing in more parts of the city and abolish barriers to more housing like rent control and Measure ULA (in Los Angeles).

If you want affordable housing, let more housing get built. Housing is subject to the same basics of supply and demand as anything else.

Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.

This story was originally published November 27, 2025 at 8:10 AM.