Elicit: Effects of Rent Control on Housing Dynamics (public)

Effects of Rent Control on Housing Dynamics

What are the effects of rent control policies on housing market dynamics and tenant stability?

Rent control policies yield mixed results, decreasing rents in controlled units by 4-47% and extending tenant stays by up to six years, while simultaneously reducing housing supply and increasing eviction filings, with effects varying by policy design and local market conditions.

Abstract

Rent control policies yield mixed effects on housing market dynamics and tenant stability. In regulated markets, studies report rent declines ranging from 4% to 47% in controlled units while some analyses note rent increases in uncontrolled or post‐decontrol sectors. In one San Francisco study, rents rose concurrently with a 15% reduction in housing supply and a 20% drop in tenant mobility. Other research documents tenants staying an extra six years under tighter regulation, although reports of 83–127% higher eviction filings suggest displacement risks in certain settings.

Methods

We analyzed 40 sources from an initial pool of 989, using 8 screening criteria. Each paper was reviewed for 5 key aspects that mattered most to the research question.

Papers identified with Elicit search

n = 989

Papers screened using:

Intervention Type
Outcome Measures
Study Design
Geographic Context
Public/Social Housing Focus
Housing Voucher/Assistance Focus
Empirical Data
Comparison Groups
n = 989 Papers screened out
n = 949 Papers included for extraction

Paper search

Using your research question “What are the effects of rent control policies on housing market dynamics and tenant stability?”, we searched across over 126 million academic papers from the Semantic Scholar corpus. We retrieved the 989 papers most relevant to the query.

Screening

We screened in sources based on their abstracts that met specified criteria regarding intervention type, outcome measures, study design, and more.

Data extraction

We asked a large language model to extract each data column below from each paper, focusing on: study design type, geographic setting, rent control policy details, impact outcomes, and key quantitative findings.

Results

Characteristics of Included Studies

Study: Diamond et al., 2019a
- Location: San Francisco, USA; 1994 onward
- Policy Type: Not explicitly labeled; limits rent increases, multi-family 2-4 units built 1900-1990
- Outcomes Measured: Rental prices, housing supply, tenant stability, maintenance
- Methodology: Quasi-experimental
- Full text retrieved: Yes
Study: Jofre-Monseny et al., 2023
- Location: Catalonia, Spain; 2020
- Policy Type: Not specified; price caps, high coverage
- Outcomes Measured: Rental prices, housing supply
- Methodology: Difference-in-differences, event-study, quasi-experimental
- Full text retrieved: No

... [additional studies follow]

Effects

Effects on Housing Market Dynamics

Study: Diamond et al., 2019a
- Outcome Measure: Market rents, supply
- Effect Direction: Increase in rents, decrease in supply
- Effect Size: 15% supply reduction, 20% decrease in mobility
Study: Jofre-Monseny et al., 2023
- Outcome Measure: Average rents
- Effect Direction: Decrease in rents
- Effect Size: 4–6% reduction

... [further results details]

Effects on Tenant Stability and Demographics

Study: Gyourko & Linneman, 1989
- Outcome Measure: Rent subsidy, tenure
- Effect Direction: Increase in subsidy, increase in tenure
- Effect Size: $2440/year, significant tenure increase 95% confidence interval: $2367–$2511

... [further demographic effects]