Access and affordability: Rent regulation

Rent control or rent regulation, aims to keep private rental housing affordable and accessible for tenants. Rent controls are also motivated by a desire to assist the disadvantaged in what are believed to be imperfectly competitive markets. However, from a traditional economic point of view, rent regulation will not achieve these aims. The costs seem to outweigh the benefits though rent regulation is a complex matter, and the empirical evidence on its effects is mixed. Governments continue to persevere with rent controls especially when markets are deemed to be imperfectly competitive. Welfare economics may provide a rationale for rent control.