Majority of California renters aren’t backing rent control plan

A majority of Californian renters do not support a proposal to allow local authorities to enforce rent control, according to a new poll.

Ahead of the November election, Californians will have a few propositions on the ballot. One of the proposals, Proposition 33, calls for giving local authorities more power to enact rent control ordinances.

A 3,000-person Berkeley IGS Poll discovered that 37 percent of voters would support the initiative, 36 percent said they were against the proposition, and 27 percent were undecided.

However, there wasn’t necessarily stronger support for the law when it came to renters specifically.

While 48 percent of renters said they would vote for the proposal, 26 percent said they were against the idea, and another 26 percent were undecided.

Alan Chang, a title and escrow expert, said this lack of support could be due to the long-term negative impact of rent control on the renter population.

Chang called Proposition 33 a “short-term effort to appear like they are doing something about housing affordability.”

“Ultimately, rent ends up being high when there is more demand than supply,” Chang told Newsweek. “If you improve the supply of rental housing units, the rent goes down. Adding restrictions to the amount of rent a landlord can charge as well as how much they can raise rents will generally dissuade them to build more as they could not predict the costs down the road.”

Many voters are weary of the promise that rent controls would automatically eliminate concerns over higher living costs, said Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin.

“While rental controls in other locations have stabilized the average yearly increases in rent, they’ve had largely negative implications outside of those limits,” Beene told Newsweek.

“Establishing controls not only limits the development of new rental properties because potential landlords now question the economic promise they would normally bring, but they also lead to less mobility, as renters enjoying the controlled pricing are less likely to leave that property and, in the process, open it up to new renters. There’s a lot more to consider here than just saving a few dollars on your rent,” he said.

Some tenants may also be homeowners who rent out a property they can afford while renting a place in a pricier location.

Other renters might generally be against the government intervening in how the market functions, said Kevin Thompson, a finance expert and the founder and CEO of 9i Capital Group.

“I believe many have seen these policies enacted in other states and heard stories of landlords neglecting properties, which can lead to higher crime rates,” Thompson told Newsweek. “The history of rent control is mixed. While it’s helped prevent skyrocketing rents in places like New York, it has also left behind dilapidated buildings.”

The median rent in California is $2,850, according to Zillow, and the state continues to boast some of the most competitive housing markets.