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<br />Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. 10 Rent Control Literature Review <br />3. Rent Control Literature Review <br />The impact of rent control ordinances on communities largely depends on the <br />conditions of the policy and the context of the local housing market. That said, there <br />are common themes that can be gleaned from empirical and academic studies on the <br />topic. Most empirical studies on rent control indicate that the policy is effective in its <br />intended goal of reducing rent for existing tenants. But rent control policies have also <br />been found to cause a range of other impacts on the housing market including <br />increased rent for new residents, contraction in the supply of rental housing, and <br />reduced housing mobility/displacement. Impacts on other factors are more <br />ambiguous. A summary of the salient findings from a variety of empirical rent control <br />studies is provided below. <br />Impacts on Renter Displacement <br />Research has found that rent control can benefit individual renters by reducing <br />turnover and supporting household stability. In other words, households that are <br />protected from rapid rent increases appear less likely to move. In a 2019 Stanford <br />research paper, authors Diamond, McQuade, and Qian (DMQ) examined the <br />impacts of San Francisco’s rent control after a 1994 law removed an exemption <br />for small multifamily units in the City. The paper concluded that San Francisco’s <br />rent control lowered renter displacement by 20 percent.11 The authors note that <br />rent control had an especially significant impact in preventing the displacement of <br />racial minorities. A summary of rent control’s impacts by PolicyLink noted that <br />tenants living in rent-controlled units move less frequently and are less likely to <br />experience forced moves.12 <br />Impacts on Rental Supply <br />While rent control has been shown to accomplish its intended effect of reducing <br />displacement and lowering rent for households living in covered units, it has also <br />been found to cause unintended effects on the housing market. The DMQ paper <br />found that while San Francisco’s rent control lowered renter displacement, it also <br />led to a shift toward For-Sale housing. Over the 36-year study period, DMQ <br />found that impacted landlords reduced the supply of available rental housing by <br />15 percent by selling to owner-occupants and redeveloping buildings. As a result, <br />rental properties made up a smaller portion of San Francisco’s housing over time, <br /> <br />11 DMQ.pdf (stanford.edu) <br />12 OurHomesOurFuture_Web_08-02-19.pdf (policylink.org) <br />8.A. - Page 138 of 168 <br />148