In December 2022, the price was $1,981 typical monthly rent in the USA — growth by 7.4% compared to last year. But while rents have begun to stabilize across the country, rental affordability remains a struggle for many Americans.

“There is literally nowhere in the country where a tenant is not burdened with rent,” said Leah Simon-Weisberg, an adjunct professor of law at the University of California, San Francisco.

In response, support for rent control policies gained strength.

But this is not the first time that such a policy finds widespread support. After the massive economic disruption caused by World War II, the federal government instituted rent controls 80% of rental housing in the period from 1941 to 1964.

Over time, it was abandoned because prominent economists unanimously opposed this policy. These sentiments largely persist today.

“There are various surveys of economists IMG revealed that only 2% I thought rent control in places like New York and San Francisco had a positive effect on affordable housing,” said Jay Parsons, chief economist at RealPage.

Economists argue that rent controls will discourage developers from building more homes, which will only worsen the housing supply crisis in the United States.

America is already suffering from deficit of 3.8 million housesespecially in low-income price points, according to Habitat for Humanity.

“We as a nation have not invested in building housing in different communities and at different price points. Instead, we relied on the private sector,” said Sharon Wilson Jeneau, president of the National Council on Multifamily Housing. “But until that money comes to the market and investors see it as a better investment than some other type of equity or other type of investment, it’s not going to come.”

Follow up video to find out why so many economists oppose the idea of ​​universal rent control.