In Virginia, some legislators want to give local governments the ability to impose cumbersome rent controls on housing. That’s a mistake. Rent control killed multifamily housing construction in Maryland’s most populous county. Getting rid of rent control greatly expanded the amount of rental housing in Argentina, without raising rents (one of the many reasons that occurred is that people were more willing to rent out rooms if they didn’t have to worry about being prevented by rent control from raising rents in the future to cover rising costs, such as the need to renovate or pay rising utility or mortgage bills). Indeed, average rents actually fell in inflation-adjusted terms in Argentina after the end of rent control. Around 93% of economists say rent control is bad, because it reduces the quantity and quality of housing.
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