WSJ Editorial Board Tackles ‘Insanity’ of Rent Control

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The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board discusses the topic of rent control in Florida.

Rent control is on the table again in Florida, this time in Orange County. The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, again, has shunned the idea of capping rents. See the Board’s criticism on St. Paul, Minn., rent control.

Orange County Commissioners voted earlier this month to place rent control on the ballot in November, not allowing owners to raise rents higher than inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for the Southeastern states. Elsewhere in Florida, Tampa and St. Petersburg did not pass rent control measures.

The WSJ Board called rent control “an appealing quick fix” to stop rising rents, and this measure in Orange County, if passed, would expire after 2023. However, the Board reiterates that these rent control policies usually take hold forever, e.g., New York City.

Nevertheless, the measure will be voted on in November despite of the county’s advisor relaying the “unintended consequences” and that rising rents are “likely beyond the control of local regulation,” says the Board citing GAI Consultants, who gave a simple solution for rising rents: Increasing supply.

Read Florida Toys With Housing Suicide.

Read NAA's take on rent control in Florida.