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> and the average person moves almost once every two years Are you sure? There's lot of research n rent control and it basically all highlights decreased housi

by ch4s3 6y ago

> and the average person moves almost once every two years Are you sure? There's lot of research n rent control and it basically all highlights decreased housing mobility, event he pro rent control authors mention it asa downside.

sudosysgen 6y ago
In my province, the rent office arranges for two measures to counterbalance and increase mobility. Firstly, most rental agreements are made to end on July 1st - legally up to 1974 but now mostly out of tradition. This allows for much less friction, as everyone can change housing without any downtime with access to the full market. Secondly, landlords are allowed to evict if they do sufficient improvements to the property, which allows a safety valve. There are so many people that move in the month of July, that over 7% of the entire population - including people who don't rent - moves out on that day. It's pretty much impossible to get a rental truck to move for the entire month of July. The statistics are that, around July 1st alone, 250 000 out of 900 000 people move. Add in people that don't move in this period, and you get almost half of renters in the entire city moving, despite strict rent control. You just need to do your rent control carefully. There will be some reduction in mobility, but if you counterbalance them, you can have minimal impacts in mobility and large impact in affordability.
- ch4s3 6y ago
  Ahh, are you in Quebec? > landlords are allowed to evict if they do sufficient improvements to the property This is a REALLY unusual provision in rent stabilization laws in the US and as far as I know the EU which normally don't allow evictions like this and severely cap rent increases for improvements. If you are in Quebec, the RDL is really unique as a form of rent control in that it doesn't set prices or cap increases but rather acts as an arbiter for rent increase disputes. I understand that there are some local criticisms of the system, but I'm not very well versed on the subject. I think most HN comments about rent control are referring the type that exists in SF where prices are more or less locked in place or otherwise set by the government.
  - sudosysgen 6y ago
    The Régie des logements in Québec absolutely does cap price increases, or even forbid them outright some years. It also does extra controls that many countries don't do, such as capping price increases even if the tenant change (the tenant needs to request the former rent, though). Allowing rent increases in the case of renovations is unusual, but not that rare either. That said, it's absolutely not "just a dispute resolution board". It 100% is traditional rent control with capped price increases, on top of the rest.
    - ch4s3 6y ago
      I looked to me like they don't set hard caps based on their explanation here[1], but again I'm not overly familiar with the RDL. Can you point me to a better explanation of how it works? I'm quite interested. French language sites are fine. [1]https://www.tal.gouv.qc.ca/en/news/calculation-of-the-2020-rent-increase https://www.tal.gouv.qc.ca/en/news/calculation-of-the-2020-r...
      - sudosysgen 6y ago
        There are indeed no hard caps. There is a formula that is used that takes into account various costs, such as heating and electricity as well as improvements made to the property, and using that formula along with the included utilities, a maximum percentage of price increase is calculated. It's generally under inflation. A typical price increase cap might be 1.8%. For cases where the landlord actually asks for a hearing, the average is of around 2.9%. If no major repairs were necessary, you'll see around 1% or increase, maybe a bit more.

by ch4s3 6y ago

sudosysgen 6y ago

In my province, the rent office arranges for two measures to counterbalance and increase mobility. Firstly, most rental agreements are made to end on July 1st - legally up to 1974 but now mostly out of tradition. This allows for much less friction, as everyone can change housing without any downtime with access to the full market. Secondly, landlords are allowed to evict if they do sufficient improvements to the property, which allows a safety valve. There are so many people that move in the month of July, that over 7% of the entire population - including people who don't rent - moves out on that day. It's pretty much impossible to get a rental truck to move for the entire month of July. The statistics are that, around July 1st alone, 250 000 out of 900 000 people move. Add in people that don't move in this period, and you get almost half of renters in the entire city moving, despite strict rent control. You just need to do your rent control carefully. There will be some reduction in mobility, but if you counterbalance them, you can have minimal impacts in mobility and large impact in affordability.

ch4s3 6y ago
Ahh, are you in Quebec? > landlords are allowed to evict if they do sufficient improvements to the property This is a REALLY unusual provision in rent stabilization laws in the US and as far as I know the EU which normally don't allow evictions like this and severely cap rent increases for improvements. If you are in Quebec, the RDL is really unique as a form of rent control in that it doesn't set prices or cap increases but rather acts as an arbiter for rent increase disputes. I understand that there are some local criticisms of the system, but I'm not very well versed on the subject. I think most HN comments about rent control are referring the type that exists in SF where prices are more or less locked in place or otherwise set by the government.
- sudosysgen 6y ago
  The Régie des logements in Québec absolutely does cap price increases, or even forbid them outright some years. It also does extra controls that many countries don't do, such as capping price increases even if the tenant change (the tenant needs to request the former rent, though). Allowing rent increases in the case of renovations is unusual, but not that rare either. That said, it's absolutely not "just a dispute resolution board". It 100% is traditional rent control with capped price increases, on top of the rest.
  - ch4s3 6y ago
    I looked to me like they don't set hard caps based on their explanation here[1], but again I'm not overly familiar with the RDL. Can you point me to a better explanation of how it works? I'm quite interested. French language sites are fine. [1]https://www.tal.gouv.qc.ca/en/news/calculation-of-the-2020-rent-increase https://www.tal.gouv.qc.ca/en/news/calculation-of-the-2020-r...
    - sudosysgen 6y ago
      There are indeed no hard caps. There is a formula that is used that takes into account various costs, such as heating and electricity as well as improvements made to the property, and using that formula along with the included utilities, a maximum percentage of price increase is calculated. It's generally under inflation. A typical price increase cap might be 1.8%. For cases where the landlord actually asks for a hearing, the average is of around 2.9%. If no major repairs were necessary, you'll see around 1% or increase, maybe a bit more.