Rent in Philadelphia, and across the country, is out of control. Tenants are being squeezed and displaced, and a wealthy few corporate landlords and developers are getting richer and richer. Housing is a human right and we need to enforce it. That’s why Philly DSA is fighting for universal rent control in our city.
Check out this report we published with Philly Power Research on campaign contributions from the Real Estate and Building Industry sector in the 2023 primary election.
Landlord and developer lobbies will fight tooth and nail to prevent us from passing rent control and other pro-tenant policies that chip away at the power imbalance between landlords and renters. The only way we are going to win is with a broad base of organized tenants who are willing to take on slumlords, greedy developers, and establishment, corporate-backed, anti-tenant politicians.
As a member of the Philadelphia Rent Control Coalition, we are fighting for rent control for Philadelphia. Get involved with the campaign by filling out our interest form or RSVPing to an upcoming event here.
Rent control protects tenants from excessive rent increases by creating a schedule for reasonable and gradual rent increases. Under rent control, a locally controlled Rent Board sets a cap on annual rent increases, and landlords are prohibited from raising rents beyond the cap.
Yes! California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington DC have cities and municipalities that have some form of rent control in effect today.
Rent is out of control across the city. Check out our interactive map below of Fair Market Rate rent increases by zip code over the past year. Fair Market Rents are assessed at the 40th percentile of rent, so these represent below-average rents.
This is a map of the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development's Small Area Fair Market Rents for 2022 and 2023 in Philadelphia. Fair Market Rents are calculated by the federal government every year to measure the 40th percentile of rents paid by recent movers in a given area. Fair Market Rents are slightly lower than the median rental price in the area. Landlords review Fair Market Rents every year to make sure they are charging an adequate amount for their property. The Philadelphia Housing Authority uses Fair Market Rents to determine the payment standards for Housing Choice Vouchers (also known as Section 8). For data source, see the HUD data access portal.
Rent control increases rental housing affordability. Tenants in cities with rent control pay less for housing, freeing up household funds to pay for bills, food, and other essentials. The former chair of the NYC Rent Control Board has stated that “rent regulations have been [New York City’s] single greatest source of affordable housing for middle-and-low-income households.” After Boston decontrolled rent in 1994, median rent doubled from $740 to $1,700 over four years and homelessness rates doubled over the same period.
Rent control reduces displacement. Rent control prevents rents from skyrocketing when neighborhoods get developed and slows gentrification. It also provides predictability to tenants, who can plan and save accordingly. When paired with Good Cause protections, rent control would help prevent the mass evictions recently seen in gentrifying neighborhoods in Philly.
Rent control increases the habitability of rental housing. Increased security of tenure builds tenant power and empowers renters standing up for their rights and requesting maintenance without fear of a retaliatory eviction or rent increase. In a system that relies on tenant action to enforce its rental laws, security of tenure is essential to ensure basic standards of habitability are enforced.
Rent control is a low cost & immediate way to address housing affordability in Philadelphia. Compared to other housing policies, rent control can be implemented relatively quickly and cheaply. Effective administration of rent control requires only the establishment of a Rent Board, which can be self-funded through a fee structure. Pennsylvania is also one of nine states where rent control is not prohibited. This means the City of Philadelphia can enact rent control now, without waiting for state or federal action.
There are more than 307,740 renter households in Philly who could benefit from rent control. That’s over 47% of households in the city. (See: 2021 5Y American Community Survey).
Rent control in Philly would predominantly benefit rent-burdened households and low-to-middle-income households. Over half (56%) of the households that would see their rents stabilized under comprehensive rent control in Philadelphia currently pay more than a third of their income on housing. And, the vast majority (86%) of households who are projected to benefit have a low-to-moderate household income (at or below 120% of median income). Nearly three-quarters (71%) of the households that would benefit from rent control are low-income (at or below 80% of median income).
Rent Control would help address racial inequality in Philly housing. Half of all Hispanic households are cost burdened by rent, followed by 46% of Black households and 32% of white households. A 2021 report found that Black renters were more than twice as likely to have an eviction filed against them than white renters and 81% of eviction filings occur in communities of color.
Rent control does not slow the construction of new housing. A review of construction rates in New Jersey and New York City found no discernible decrease in construction following the adoption of rent control.* In contrast, in Boston, after rent control was repealed, the construction of multifamily units decreased.**
Rent control does not lead to the abandonment or deterioration of housing.*** In Washington, DC, the share of physically deficient units quickly declined after adopting rent control, likely due to the sharp increase in tenants’ willingness to insist upon repairs. Research indicates that abandonment occurs at the same scale in cities with and without rent control.
Rent control does not stunt the local economy. Rent regulations keep money in the local economy by allowing renters to redirect money that would have been spent on rent to other household expenses, stimulating the local economy. In Philadelphia, many landlords are not city residents. Rent control would keep money in Philadelphia residents’ pockets instead of the pockets of their out-of-city landlords.
*Gilderbloom, John I., and Lin Ye (2007), “Thirty Years of Rent Control: A Survey of New Jersey Cities.” Journal of Urban Affairs 29(2): 207–20
**David Sims (2007), “Out of Control: What Can We Learn from the End of Massachusetts Rent Control?” Journal of Urban Economics 61(1):129–51
***Peter Marcuse (1981), “Housing Abandonment: Does Rent Control Make a Difference?” Conference on Alternative State & Local Policies 49(7).
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