Standish, ME - Rent Control Ordinance

Dear Standish Town Council,

I am writing to address the proposed rent stabilization ordinance draft, as found here. While the intent of rent control is to provide relief to tenants facing rising rents, it's crucial to consider several known unintended consequences based on existing research and real-world application:

Reduction in Housing Supply: Rent control often leads to a decrease in the availability of rental housing. Landlords may convert rental units into other forms of property, such as condominiums, or simply withdraw from the rental market due to reduced profitability. This can exacerbate the very issue of housing shortage it aims to address.

Decreased Quality and Maintenance of Properties: With capped rental income, landlords might reduce spending on maintenance or improvements, leading to a decline in the quality of housing stock over time. This is because they cannot recoup these costs through rent increases.

Impact on New Construction: The policy can deter new construction or lead developers to focus on non-rental properties, further reducing the supply of rental units. This is especially true if the rent control applies to new buildings.

Inefficiency in Housing Allocation: Rent control can result in tenants staying in apartments longer than necessary due to below-market rents, reducing mobility and the efficient use of housing stock. This mismatch can lead to larger families cramped in smaller units or vice versa.

Higher Rents for Uncontrolled Units: The pressure on the non-controlled housing market often leads to increased rents as demand exceeds supply in these segments.

Regarding the specifics of the ordinance:

Applicability of Ownership: The current draft specifies that rent control applies to those owning more than 10 housing units but does not clarify if this refers to units within Standish alone. To avoid ambiguity and potential legal challenges, it would be wise to specify "more than 10 units within Standish" to ensure the ordinance targets local property management rather than broader ownership portfolios.

Large-Scale Investors: If there's a concern about mass owners of homes across the country, a separate provision might be necessary. However, applying a threshold of 10 units for nationwide ownership might not be effective. Instead, consider setting a much higher threshold, perhaps at least 1000 units, to genuinely target large-scale investors while not overly burdening smaller landlords.

Moreover, the core issue in Standish, as in many places, appears to be a fundamental imbalance of supply and demand in housing. The best approach to genuinely lower housing costs is to facilitate easier and less costly construction processes. Increasing the supply of housing is the most direct way to address high demand and subsequently reduce prices, following basic economic principles. Rent control does not address this root cause and might even hinder new supply through reduced investment incentives.

Therefore, I suggest focusing efforts on:

Streamlining zoning and building regulations.
Incentivizing new construction through tax incentives or other benefits.
Exploring public-private partnerships to increase affordable housing stock.

By addressing the supply side of the equation, Standish can work towards a more sustainable solution to its housing affordability challenges rather than potentially exacerbating them with rent control.

Sincerely,
[your name]