In addition, The Washington Post says the measure would not only apply to landlords who own more than 50 units, which represents roughly half of all rental properties, but it wouldn’t cover units that have not yet been built.
The White House released a fact sheet on the proposal where they said “President Biden is taking action to make renting more affordable for millions of Americans.”
However, the WSJ summed up the proposal quite nicely in a lead editorial on July 17th:
“It’s hard to think of a worse idea than imposing rent control nationwide through the tax code. It would reduce investment in new supply and drive up rents in units not subject to government caps. Look at New York City where nearly half of units are “rent stabilized,” and the average one-bedroom apartment costs $4,300 a month.
As Mr. Biden’s re-election prospects grow more dire, his policy lurches to the left are becoming ever more radical.”
“The Biden Administration is exhibiting financial malfeasance by suggesting a distracting rent cap that would do nothing for rents, nothing for housing costs, and would only expand red-tape for governmental housing programs!”
“The housing supply has been strangled by red-tape and high interest rates. Government-created problems will not be fixed by additional layers of bureaucracy. In fact, as we have seen, economists have repeatedly stated that government control of housing prices destroys housing investment. The U.S. housing market’s problems are widely varied and will require flexible, state-based housing responses. National REIA members are ready to assist in private redevelopments and are critical to local success stories. After all, we improve neighborhoods one home at a time.”
“It’s hard to think of a worse idea than imposing rent control nationwide through the tax code. It would reduce investment in new supply and drive up rents in units not subject to government caps. Look at New York City where nearly half of units are “rent stabilized,” and the average one-bedroom apartment costs $4,300 a month.
