Wealthy, Older Tenants in Manhattan Get Biggest Boost From Rent Regulations - WSJ
WSJ analysis using US census data that finds biggest discounts for regulated rents are in Manhattan, about $3000 for an unregulated apartment and $1400 for a regulated one. The discount in Queens was only 8.6% and in Brooklyn 16.7%. Affluent renters get the biggest discounts. Top quintile regulated rent is $1600 vs $2600 for market rate. Lowest qunitile regulated rent is $1100 vs $1300 for equivalent market rate.
Counterpoint
“The major benefit of rent regulation for low-income people is the security against being displaced,” said Tom Waters, a housing policy analyst at the Community Service Society, an advocacy group for the poor. “The rent discount, the difference in rents, doesn’t necessarily capture that.”