Here are just a few astounding facts about renting a home in the U.S. in 2018: Median rents have increased 32% between 2001 and 2015 (not including utility costs), while salaries have flatlined. Around 80% of low-income people pay more than half their income on rent (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development classifies an outsized rent burden as more than 30% of someone’s salary). And this affects a lot of people: The majority of people living in 42 of the 100 largest cities in the U.S. (and a growing proportion in rural areas) rent their homes.
One of the most simple policy interventions to help the country’s renters is rent control, a cap on the amount a landlord can raise the rent in a year. While some states have rent control laws that allow cities to opt in to rent control, a new law in Oregon goes further: The legislature just passed a bill that implements rent control uniformly across the entire state. The policy, which caps rent increases at 7% in a state where some people have seen their leases increase by as much as 113% in the past few years, has been years in the making and is the first of its kind passed in the U.S., says Katrina Holland, executive director of the Portland-based nonprofit advocacy group Community Alliance of Tenants.
“No one policy can solve the housing crisis, but rent control can quickly stabilize prices and halt rent gouging,” says Sarah Treuhaft, report author and PolicyLink director.
A cap on rent increases also helps people to remain in one place. That, Treuhaft says, “creates cascading benefits throughout society.” Without having to spend more than half their income on rent, tenants have more resources to access necessities like food and healthcare. Children are be able to remain in the same school district instead of having to switch, often mid-year, as many now do. And as more expensive cities like San Francisco and Seattle implement $15 minimum wages, rent control will ensure that people can continue living in the city to access long-overdue pay increases.