[58028641]

Doesn't rent control just reward people lucky enough to rent before prices increased? Wouldn't increasing supply be a better way to reduce prices?

[ruuda]

Increasing supply decreases prices globally, but increases them locally: https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/change-my-mind-density-incr...

[bombcar]

So we coordinate- every single city increases supply at the exact same time, causing all local prices to go up whilst the average goes down.

[standardUser]

"Rent control" can do any numbers of thing - it really depends on the specific policies.

[seanmcdirmid]

Ya, most rent control just rewards those that are there when it happens, if it applies to new renters, supply eventually seizes up.

I’m not sure what model parent thinks will work. Maybe rent control light where price increases are limited but the limit is highish? I can see that working out, limiting increases to 1.5-2X inflation might keep the market fluid and provide some stability to renters without locking new tenants out.

[malermeister]

The secret is for the government to make up for the decrease in private supply. Vienna showed how it's done - see this article for example: https://citymonitor.ai/environment/housing/red-vienna-how-au... There's a reason it's been #1 most livable city in the world on several rankings for years in a row now.

[thisgoesnowhere]

Would you apply the same logic to how the market for real estate unfairly rewards previous entrants?

My parents have seen a 4x increase in the value of their house in 20 years, is that unfair?

[vkou]

Yes in the same way that social welfare rewards people lucky enough to be born in your country.