Published
4 years agoon
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CalMattersWhen California lawmakers vote on a rent cap bill in the coming days, they must consider the consequences it will have on our state’s housing crisis for years to come.
Our state’s housing affordability and availability crisis deserves a comprehensive approach that prioritizes building more homes for rent and ownership. Unfortunately, Assembly Bill 1482 does neither.
Just last year, when more Californians than ever before voted in a midterm election, their message was clear. They want a balanced solution to our affordability crisis.
Voters in 56 of California’s 58 counties rejected a statewide ballot measure that would have dramatically expanded rent control without respecting property rights.
California’s renters deserve more affordable housing, but a restrictive rent cap proposed in AB 1482 with no incentives for housing production or protections for property owners will take our state backward.
This comes at a time when headline after headline shows the immediate need for more housing.
In recent weeks, we learned that the state has issued just 111,000 permits for new homes in 2019, 12% less than a year before. Even worse, apartment development is down 42% from last year.
For context, Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for building 500,000 units per year to achieve his goal of building the necessary 3.5 million units to end the state’s housing shortage. That means we need to build new units five times faster than the current rate.
Californians are being forced to make tough decisions because of the housing crisis. In a recent survey, 53% said they were considering leaving the state due to high housing costs and an even greater share of young people said the same.
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