Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

relliott22 t1_j71mxrx wrote

Reply to comment by Icy-Neck-2422 in State lawmakers introduce bill to bring back rent control by HRJafael

Came here to remind people that high rents are driven by basic supply and demand. Too many people are chasing too few rental properties. Rent control ultimately makes this problem worse by artificially decreasing the price of rental units, therefore artificially decreasing the quantity supplied.

I'm a registered Democrat who voted for Elizabeth Warren in the primaries, but when it comes to rent in Massachusetts, we should take a page from the Republicans and deregulate. If you really want the government involved in this, create government subsidies/tax breaks for the construction of the types of housing that you'd like to see built.

17

3720-To-One t1_j71vkz3 wrote

Whatwe need is for the state to take over zoning and tell NIMBYs and all their cries of “neighborhood character” to go pound sand.

Zoning is the problem. There isn’t enough supply to meet demand.

17

relliott22 t1_j71zhk9 wrote

To add on to that, in many places the historical buildings have got to go. Especially in the Boston metro.

Also, we need to stop large universities like Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, and Boston University (my alma mater) from buying any more land. They're like tumors.

9

3720-To-One t1_j720wb1 wrote

My issue is what’s considered historical.

A building isn’t “historical” and worthy of presets to on simply because it’s old.

But yes, universities need to stop buying land, and there needs to be more pressure for them to build more housing to house their students.

When I was in my 20s and living in Allston, it’s frustrating that I’m having to compete with so many BU students with rich parents, which ultimately drives up prices.

9

torniz t1_j73amqn wrote

Fall River has knocked down a bunch of old churches. Instead of building multi unit houses, we got single family homes.

2

relliott22 t1_j73c3oq wrote

The perfect is the enemy of the good. You got more housing.

1

HaElfParagon t1_j7231jm wrote

Well, deregulate in some instances. I don't want landlords to have the ability to force tenants out just to hike rent 30% for the next person

14

relliott22 t1_j72fyg1 wrote

...And neither do I. But landlords do need to be able to evict people, and they do need to get a fair market return for their properties.

The regulations that I would like to see gone are the regulations that make it harder to build, but I don't pretend to be an expert on housing policy. I just know that the current problem is one of inadequate supply, and that rent control would exacerbate the problem.

We want the same things. It's just about what we think is the right road to get there.

−2

han7nah t1_j72xkvh wrote

The increase isn't tied to any fair market return, their monthly mortgage is the same every month. The increase in rent is always way more than the increase in the costs of property taxes, maintenance, and insurance.

4

HaElfParagon t1_j72xmbs wrote

I disagree. I don't think "fair market return" is something that should be allowed when we have a homeless epidemic

3