Rent Control for Pacifica is a Blunder

It has been announced that our city council is planning to vote on rent control for Pacifica at the April 10th meeting.

As a citizen, property owner, and investor in Pacifica, I must speak out. Rent control will not negatively affect me, but it will negatively affect Pacifica.

Rent control is not a fix to make housing more affordable. In fact, it's just the opposite.

I notice in this paper that rent control advocates are making statements that sound authoritative, yet they are wrong and misleading. Statements include:

“Rent control does not have an adverse consequence for new construction”

There may be new construction but it is not for affordable housing. Just look at San Francisco’s new construction.

“Saves taxpayer money”

That sounds nice. Saves Money. How can limiting returns on investment income save taxpayer money?

“Still assures a reasonable profit for landlords”.

How does the government know the debt and expense structure of landlords and what is needed to break even or make a profit?

“Encourages better building maintenance”

Statements like this are misleading and untrue.

“Encourages economic diversity with the vast majority of renters living in these apartments of low to moderate income and elderly”.

This makes no sense as a statement.

Let’s not put out false information for the sake of an ideology. Housing costs are a factor of supply and demand. This is Economics 101.

The vast majority of professional economists that study this issue say the following:

• Rent control retards development of affordable housing.
• Rent control diverts residential housing units to other uses thereby reducing the supply.
• Rent control results in delayed maintenance reducing the quality of the housing base.
• Rent control limits the rights of citizens that have invested in rental housing.
• Rent control does not increase the supply of affordable housing it retards its development.

Instead of putting the burden of a shortage of affordable housing on the shoulders of property owners and investors, the city council needs to look in the mirror and ask themselves some questions:

• Why is there a shortage of affordable housing?

• Are regulations and red tape making Pacifica an unattractive place for investment?

• Are building fees and the permitting process making Pacifica unattractive?

• Does Pacifica have a reputation for being anti-development?

I cannot answer these questions. The council should be asking and finding answers to these questions.

I do know for sure that rent control is a flawed concept and will not solve the shortage of affordable housing in Pacifica. For more information on this important issue, watch a video from Nicole Gelinas, Senior Fellow of the Manhattan Institute.

A concerned citizen,
Tom Richardson, Sharp Park