As a newbie housing provider (my preferred pronoun instead of landlord) I can testify that the three headed hydra of rent control- price, just cause eviction, and tenant relocation provides a STRONG disincentive to renting out a portion of my personal residence.
While large landlords have their staff, legal department, investors, and are not going to be living next to who they rent to, owner residents are subject to an onerous set of rules that have made this homeowner decide to NOT rent a unit, the ADU that we just built for our daughter's future.
Instead we are embarking on the lodger route- a housemate that is not eligible for rent control "protections." It's still a perilous path, but we need to bring in income for the doubling of our mortgage AND property tax bill.
There is a carve out in my state and city for owner-residents of single family residences, but our home is a duplex, and even though separately owned as a condo, we are disqualified, and thrown into the same set of rules that control large apartment buildings run by corporations.
This and other stupid zoning rules- if you convert a portion of your home for rental, you cannot restore the original home, because that would constitute "destroying" a rental unit, even if no change to the bedroom count or square footage.
You are correct that rent control laws are popular. I'm sure I voted for these measures before I became subject to their rules. My hope is to expand housing opportunities, by returning some rationality to rent control.
I'm sorry, but attributing falling rents in Austin to a lack of rent control and not mentioning the city's economic crisis and vast corporate desertion is just dishonest and you guys need to stop doing it
Why is there a housing emergency in New York? Let us consider some reasons:
1. The city is not that big in terms of land area. 300 square miles or so, including roads, parks, etc. etc.
2. The density of population within the now-wealthy areas of the city has continuously declined.
3. What gets built? Luxury stuff. "Go out to the boroughs," they said. Uh-huh.
4. Since the city's near (financial) death nearly fifty years ago, the amount of wealth tied up in real estate has skyrocketed.
So all the talk about "rent control is bad" is not about making sure that housing is available, it's about becoming part of the class that's benefiting from high real estate values. A crash in the value of real estate would not really be a bad thing.
One more note: Once upon a time, before things were as financialized as they have become, building apartments in New York was all about running a business. You make the investment and build. You then take rent, provide service and run positive enough to service the debt and make a living. But now, it's all about "I will only build if I can cater to folks who can spend five figures monthly and then spin it off to private capital." Bad model.
I'm of a generation who were products of a rent-controlled environment. Future generations should have that opportunity.
1. Much of the city's 300-square-miles, particularly in the boroughs—but even Manhattan—is low-rise and low-density. There are a ton of vacant lots, under-utilized parking lots, and city-owned land that has yet to be exploited. I've written about that here: https://www.ryanpuzycki.com/p/manhattanize-manhattan
2. The density of the wealthy areas of the city has declined because of historic preservation districts and downzoning, which has meant that scarce housing is increasingly only within reach of the super-rich.
3. "Luxury stuff" gets built because density is restricted in the cheaper outer boroughs and, in the inner parts, because of expensive mandatory inclusionary zoning that economically requires landlords to charge more for market-rate apartments.
4. All of the above has reduced ownership opportunities for lower-/middle-class people, reduced the supply of market-rate housing, and perpetuated housing scarcity.
Legally, the rent-controlled environment is the product of a housing shortage environment. That's the "opportunity" that future generations will continue to enjoy if the city does not unleash a building boom.
As a newbie housing provider (my preferred pronoun instead of landlord) I can testify that the three headed hydra of rent control- price, just cause eviction, and tenant relocation provides a STRONG disincentive to renting out a portion of my personal residence.
While large landlords have their staff, legal department, investors, and are not going to be living next to who they rent to, owner residents are subject to an onerous set of rules that have made this homeowner decide to NOT rent a unit, the ADU that we just built for our daughter's future.
Instead we are embarking on the lodger route- a housemate that is not eligible for rent control "protections." It's still a perilous path, but we need to bring in income for the doubling of our mortgage AND property tax bill.
There is a carve out in my state and city for owner-residents of single family residences, but our home is a duplex, and even though separately owned as a condo, we are disqualified, and thrown into the same set of rules that control large apartment buildings run by corporations.
This and other stupid zoning rules- if you convert a portion of your home for rental, you cannot restore the original home, because that would constitute "destroying" a rental unit, even if no change to the bedroom count or square footage.
You are correct that rent control laws are popular. I'm sure I voted for these measures before I became subject to their rules. My hope is to expand housing opportunities, by returning some rationality to rent control.
I'm sorry, but attributing falling rents in Austin to a lack of rent control and not mentioning the city's economic crisis and vast corporate desertion is just dishonest and you guys need to stop doing it
???
Why is there a housing emergency in New York? Let us consider some reasons:
1. The city is not that big in terms of land area. 300 square miles or so, including roads, parks, etc. etc.
2. The density of population within the now-wealthy areas of the city has continuously declined.
3. What gets built? Luxury stuff. "Go out to the boroughs," they said. Uh-huh.
4. Since the city's near (financial) death nearly fifty years ago, the amount of wealth tied up in real estate has skyrocketed.
So all the talk about "rent control is bad" is not about making sure that housing is available, it's about becoming part of the class that's benefiting from high real estate values. A crash in the value of real estate would not really be a bad thing.
One more note: Once upon a time, before things were as financialized as they have become, building apartments in New York was all about running a business. You make the investment and build. You then take rent, provide service and run positive enough to service the debt and make a living. But now, it's all about "I will only build if I can cater to folks who can spend five figures monthly and then spin it off to private capital." Bad model.
I'm of a generation who were products of a rent-controlled environment. Future generations should have that opportunity.
Thanks for the comment! Some thoughts:
1. Much of the city's 300-square-miles, particularly in the boroughs—but even Manhattan—is low-rise and low-density. There are a ton of vacant lots, under-utilized parking lots, and city-owned land that has yet to be exploited. I've written about that here: https://www.ryanpuzycki.com/p/manhattanize-manhattan
2. The density of the wealthy areas of the city has declined because of historic preservation districts and downzoning, which has meant that scarce housing is increasingly only within reach of the super-rich.
3. "Luxury stuff" gets built because density is restricted in the cheaper outer boroughs and, in the inner parts, because of expensive mandatory inclusionary zoning that economically requires landlords to charge more for market-rate apartments.
4. All of the above has reduced ownership opportunities for lower-/middle-class people, reduced the supply of market-rate housing, and perpetuated housing scarcity.
Legally, the rent-controlled environment is the product of a housing shortage environment. That's the "opportunity" that future generations will continue to enjoy if the city does not unleash a building boom.