Rent Control Is Housing Socialism

Greg Bresiger reports:

the beneficiaries of this system often consider their rent-controlled apartment a lifetime entitlement and even count it as an asset. They form tenant groups. They pressure the city and state governments. So do the builders who want to end the laws, but they have not been as successful. The politicians understand there are more votes in tenants than in owners in New York City.

Indeed, a former New York City Council speaker, Gifford Miller, actually used taxpayer dollars a few years ago to help fund an Albany lobbying event for a tenants’ group. The idea that Miller – or any other major politician, Republican or Democrat – would fund an event for those who wanted to end rent controls is politically unthinkable in New York City.

Turnover rates in rent-controlled towns are low. Even if the building is collapsing, why leave an apartment when one is paying below-market rates? At the same time, why should an owner put any extra money into a property he doesn’t control and on which he may be losing money? The losers are owners and those who don’t enjoy the privilege of a rent-controlled building. All this, of course, means it becomes more difficult for those looking for an apartment.

Too bad they don't believe in property rights in NYC.