California Proposition 33

This November, California voters will decide if cities and counties can impose rent control on all apartments and single-family homes. If approved, the measure – Proposition 33 – would create unintended consequences for renters while also broadly impacting apartment owners and builders. Foremost among these could be the impact to development. Rent control could alter developers’ projected returns and suppress the long-term supply of apartments, prolonging the state’s housing shortage. The potential enactment of rent control could also contribute to a rise in deferred maintenance, specifically if property expense increases surpass rent growth. This dynamic would impair the quality of the housing stock, adversely impacting renters.