Tram Hoang is a senior housing associate at PolicyLink, a research and action institute working to redesign the nation so that it governs for all people. In 2021, Tram led the Keep St. Paul Home campaign, in which St. Paul, Minnesota, voters passed the nation’s strongest rent stabilization ordinance.
America’s renters are being pushed to the brink. And thanks to recent actions in Washington, D.C., it’s about to get worse.
While costs of living soar, 65% of working-age renters can’t cover their basic expenses after paying rent, and nearly half of renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing. Instead of addressing this crisis, Congress passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” this summer, cutting safety net programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which will further strain households struggling to keep a roof over their heads. Meanwhile, the White House has moved to slash rental assistance, roll back fair housing enforcement and speed up evictions. This comes after the Supreme Court effectively criminalized homelessness.
These actions create a looming catastrophe: a surge in evictions, record-high homelessness and long-term consequences for our communities and economies. As federal support dwindles, state and local leaders will be left to manage the fallout on their own, with fewer tools and far less funding.
But there is a cost-effective and popular policy solution they can turn to: rent control.
Rent control has gained momentum in recent years — and for good reason. When designed well, it can stabilize neighborhoods, reduce displacement and complement affordable housing development. In 2025, over 170 rent control bills were considered across the country, and it’s also become a defining issue in elections, from last year’s presidential race to this year’s New York City mayoral race. Economists are rethinking their stance, recognizing that a housing market dominated by corporate landlords and financial speculation doesn’t function fairly or efficiently.
Cities across the country are already showing how rent control can be implemented quickly and at scale, stabilizing hundreds of thousands of households. In San Francisco, it’s estimated that over 170,000 homes are covered by rent regulation — three times the number supported by all other rental subsidy programs combined. In New York City, over three times as many low-income households live in rent-regulated homes as in public and subsidized housing combined. These protections help hundreds of thousands of people remain in their homes and contribute to their neighborhoods. If rent control were expanded nationwide, it could stabilize over 30 million households.
Positive effects on the local economy
This stabilization has cascading positive effects on the local economy. When renters aren’t burdened by excessive rents, they have more money to spend locally. In 2022, eliminating rent burden would have freed up $173 billion — around $8,100 per affected household. That money supports small businesses, creates jobs and generates tax revenue, all while landlords still make fair returns. Rent control can also help curb inflation. Housing is one of its biggest drivers, and stabilizing rents offers economic relief at a time when federal policy is failing to deliver.
Rent control is also one of the most cost-effective policies available. In 2013, Berkeley, California, stabilized 19,000 units for $4 million. By contrast, providing vouchers to 2,200 households would have cost $20 million, and building the same number of affordable units would have cost $220 million. As fiscal pressures grow on states and localities, rent control offers major impact without major spending.
Some opponents argue that the solution to the housing crisis is to build more affordable housing. But building alone isn’t enough. In 2024, developers built over 600,000 multifamily units nationwide, the most in 40 years. Yet we’re still losing lower-cost homes quickly. Since 2011, we’ve lost over 30% of rentals priced under $1,000 per month. As more cities and states take development into their own hands to build much-needed permanently affordable housing, rent control helps preserve what’s left. It is not a replacement for building, but a necessary complement.
Opponents — often backed by the real estate lobby and corporate landlords — claim rent control damages the housing market. But these arguments are decades old, and they haven’t proven true. For them, what’s really at stake is not the health of the market, but protecting their unchecked ability to increase the rent. That’s why the real estate lobby was among the corporate chorus celebrating the president's megabill.
The research is clear: Rent control doesn’t eliminate profit — it limits profiteering off a basic human need. And it returns essential power to local governments and communities. Municipalities and states should use the tools at their disposal, especially because they have broad public support to back them.
From cities like Pomona, California, to statewide campaigns in Massachusetts, communities are organizing to win rent control — not just as a policy, but as a path to long-term political power. This movement is growing, and it’s not going away any time soon.
Rent control won’t solve everything. But it’s one of our best tools to protect people, stabilize local economies and advance a more equitable future. For leaders looking for practical solutions in the face of federal retreat, it’s never been clearer that the time for rent control is now.
