Persuasive Essay On Rent Control
Affordable housing has been a controversial topic throughout history. Cities, and even countries, have had both great success stories and horrible fallbacks from instituting regulations on rent. While there have been successes, some may say like Germany today, the current systems in place in the US are not prepared for the installment of rent control. There are many reasons that the City of Portland should not intervene in the housing market by introducing or continuing the practice of rent control. Rent control, in its simplest terms, has one goal: to make affordable housing for lower income persons. This goal is sensible, yet the implications of rent control are very different than the expectations. Due to the economic laws of demand
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5he inverse of this statement is also true; as the price for a product or service decreases, demand for that product or service increases. In terms of rent control, as the rent is capped at lower than equilibrium price to accommodate those who cannot afford rent at the equilibrium price, there is an increase in demand for apartments. Therefore, at the same amount of apartments supplied, there are more people interested in renting. This gives landlords the ability to pick and choose their tenants and furthermore allows them to discriminate on different aspects, including income level. Landlords will likely pick those of higher incomes, as they are insured of payment. This ultimately takes away from the goal of making housing more affordable for lower income persons. Following the law of demand, understanding the law of supply is vital to understanding the fallbacks of rent control. The law of supply states that as the price for a product or service increases, supply of that product or service will increase and vice versa. As the price of rent is decreased often when a rent cap is installed, fewer apartments are supplied. Thus, with an increase in demand and a decrease in supply, the lower income persons who are the instigators of this change are not able to benefit from it as easily as
5he inverse of this statement is also true; as the price for a product or service decreases, demand for that product or service increases. In terms of rent control, as the rent is capped at lower than equilibrium price to accommodate those who cannot afford rent at the equilibrium price, there is an increase in demand for apartments. Therefore, at the same amount of apartments supplied, there are more people interested in renting. This gives landlords the ability to pick and choose their tenants and furthermore allows them to discriminate on different aspects, including income level. Landlords will likely pick those of higher incomes, as they are insured of payment. This ultimately takes away from the goal of making housing more affordable for lower income persons. Following the law of demand, understanding the law of supply is vital to understanding the fallbacks of rent control. The law of supply states that as the price for a product or service increases, supply of that product or service will increase and vice versa. As the price of rent is decreased often when a rent cap is installed, fewer apartments are supplied. Thus, with an increase in demand and a decrease in supply, the lower income persons who are the instigators of this change are not able to benefit from it as easily as