Washington Post blasts rent control as 'failed policy' that leaves renters 'worse off' than before

"Whenever people get anxious about affordability, populists offer up a deceptively simple solution: rent control. Yet capping prices is a textbook policy failure that leaves renters in every community which tries it worse off than they would have been otherwise: less housing supply, more deferred maintenance and reduced mobility. Fresh examples aren't needed, yet cities and states keep repeating the experiment," the editorial board wrote.

"In 2022, St. Paul ushered in one of the strictest controls in the country, capping rent increases at 3 percent for most apartments. Its neighbor Minneapolis, just across the Mississippi River, rejected price controls and concentrated instead on creating housing supply to meet demand," the paper detailed. 

According to the Post, while St. Paul is "trying to clean up the mess it made" through its housing policies, critics of rent control won the mayoral races in both cities last month.

The editorial cited Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck, who once quipped that rent control is "the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city - except for bombing."

"It becomes irrational for landlords to invest in upkeep. Others pull properties off the market to sell. Landlords who keep renting will be more likely to hike rents when the lease is first signed to account for their limited ability to raise prices in the future. This will make initial rent costs higher than necessary. Meanwhile, renters will be less likely to upsize or downsize as needed, not wanting to sign onto a higher-cost lease upfront," the Post explained.

The Post concluded there is no "feigning ignorance" about the "consequences that inevitably follow these caps," pointing to New York City's estimated 50,000 vacant apartments - "thanks to rent control policies" - as evidence.

The city government of New York and the Los Angeles City Council did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

"In Scotland, the Scottish National Party capped rent hikes at 3 percent in 2022 - only to report the highest rent increases on record this fall. Meanwhile, in Argentina, President Javier Milei abolished rent controls in December 2023. Properties flooded the market, and rents have fallen by 40 percent on average. That's something American cities would be wise to replicate," the editorial board wrote.