Biden Administration Proposes Federal Rent Hike Limits

Federal legislation proposed by President Biden on Monday would incentivize rental property owners to cap rent increases at 5 percent or lose federal tax breaks, reports David Greenwald in The Davis Vanguard. “He also called for the repurposing of public land sustainably to enable as many as 15,000 additional affordable housing units to be built in Nevada; and rehabilitating distressed housing, building more affordable housing, and revitalizing neighborhoods, including in Las Vegas, Nevada.”

As Greenwald notes, “Corporate landlords, under this plan, beginning this year and for the next two years, would only be able to take advantage of faster depreciation write-offs available to owners of rental housing if they keep annual rent increases to no more than 5% each year.” The rule would apply to landlords with over 50 units. The article notes that the policy would exempt new construction and “substantial renovation or rehabilitation.”

Some housing experts say the policy could have a chilling effect on market-rate housing construction. According to a paper from University of California, Santa Barbara researchers, “recent research finds that the mass public has little conviction that more housing supply would improve affordability.”