California voters will decide this November whether they want local jurisdictions to have the legal basis to impose some form of rent control.
The Affordable Housing Act, or Proposition 10, would give communities the power to adopt rent control to address the state’s housing affordability crisis.
Rents have been rising to all-time highs statewide, including the Sacramento region. There is simply not enough affordable housing. Many proposals are being discussed for jumpstarting affordable housing construction to ease the supply-demand dilemma.
For low- and middle-income workers, students and fixed-income retirees, large increases in rent can have catastrophic consequences. Low-income families face evictions or homelessness because of their inability to shoulder substantial rent increases. College students have to choose between discontinuing their studies or moving back home with their parents. One Curtis Park neighbor reported that her adult daughter had to move back home because her rent increased $400 per month immediately after her apartment complex was sold.
Proponents argue that without some form of rent control, rents will continue to rise and more and more people will face displacement, homelessness and evictions.
Those opposed to local jurisdictions being able to establish rent controls assert that rent control creates a large and expensive bureaucracy, will deter new housing construction, will lead to less tax revenue to pay for schools and other public services, and will worsen the housing crisis.