Policy Research

Housing Supply Dynamics under Rent Control: What Can Evictions Tell Us?

Brian J Asquith

Summary

This article uses eviction data from San Francisco to examine how landlords react to increases in housing demands in rent controlled markets. It proposes that rent control incentivizes landlords to have quick turnarounds with tenants so that they can raise base rents once more, especially when there is an increased housing demand that leads to increased rents. The results ultimately suggest that landlords do not increase evictions in response to increased housing demands.

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Policy Implications

These results are very useful to policymakers because they demonstrate that implementing rent control policies do not necessarily result in landlords evicting tenants in order to draw in more rent money. Of course, this relies greatly on other housing related legislation in California, but it nevertheless serves as a successful model.