POLICY BRIEF THE IMPACT OF Spring 2021 RENT CONTROL POLICIES ON BAY AREA HOUSING SUPPLY: DEVELOPER PERCEPTIONS AND DEVELOPMENT CALCULUS work included a review of academic and other PURPOSE AND CONTEXT literature; interviews with 12 developers, lenders, and real estate researchers; a regression analysis As policymakers grapple with increased housing of historical transaction data from the Bay Area costs in the Bay Area, some communities compared with different policy formulations; and have implemented rent control as a strategy to detailed pro forma analyses of how different stabilize renter households. While there is general stringencies of rent control policies might impact the acknowledgement that many households benefit development feasibility of hypothetical multifamily from rent control policies, there is debate about developments in the Bay Area. its impacts, including how rent control policies might influence new housing production. If a rent FINDINGS control policy stabilizes certain households while restricting new housing production, it might have unintended consequences for long-term housing California’s existing anti-price gouging affordability. Proponents and detractors of rent policy is different from what is typically control policies continue to argue over the nature thought of as “rent control,” and has and magnitude of any impact on housing supply limited or no impact on the feasibility of new housing development. and affordability. This study seeks to understand how rent control policies might impact the supply Under AB 1482, Bay Area cities are unlikely to of housing in the Bay Area. see a measurable impact on feasibility for new development. Effective January 2020, AB 1482 METHODS limits rent increases to 5% plus inflation but does While many academic studies about the impacts not supersede local rent control regulations. of rent control exist, none focus specifically on Because the policy does not apply for the first the policy parameters that drive those impacts. 15 years of the life of a building, it delays the To cut through conjecture and learn more about impacts on building operations. In addition, AB how rent control policies drive impact on new 1482’s high rent increase limit does not serve as housing development, ECONorthwest worked with a binding constraint on market rent increases. UC Berkeley’s Center for Community Innovation on Delayed implementation and a high rent increase research funded by the Silicon Valley Community limit make it so that the policy has no measurable Foundation to fill this gap in the literature. We impact on development feasibility. This means that conducted a mixed-methods analysis to understand any mitigation strategies for the policy may not be how different types of rent control policies might necessary at this time. impact housing development feasibility. This 1 THE IMPACT OF RENT CONTROL POLICIES ON BAY AREA HOUSING SUPPLY: DEVELOPER PERCEPTIONS AND DEVELOPMENT CALCULUS However, some developers are wary that the policy may become more stringent. Even if there are no foreseeable impacts to a building’s operating income from AB 1482 or an existing local policy, if investors perceive that rent increases may become further limited or that the policy could eventually apply before year 15, they might start to account for the risk of these changes by rethinking their investment decisions. Transaction data demonstrate that investors value properties subject to local rent control policies less than properties that are not subject to the policies, with the valuation impacts correlating with the stringency of the rent control policy. While new construction is not subject to pre Costa Hawkins1 rent control policies, we ran an analysis that controlled for building age and other attributes to isoldate the influence of rent control on valuations. We found a measurable perception of risk among investors related to existing rent-controlled buildings. This is because developers are wary of future policy changes to state and local rent control regulations that could impact a building’s operating income. This impact was most prominent in San Francisco. Changes to the current parameters of California’s state-wide policy or local rent control policies could decrease the feasibility of new development. The infeasibility of building under stricter rent control policies is driven by (1) the policy parameters themselves and (2) how developers and investors respond to these parameters. Exihibit 1 provides a summary of different policy parameters and examples of their various levels of stringency. Exhibit 1. Rent Control Policy Parameters that Inform a Policy’s Stringency MORE FLEXIBLE MORE STRICT PERCENT RENT INCREASE. Rent control places a cap on annual a. 100% of CPI rent increases. The most restrictive ones are pegged as a percentage 5 –8% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), usually between 60-100%. or less b. VACANCY DECONTROL. Vacancy decontrol allows landlords to increase rents for new tenants when prior tenants move out, while Vacancy Vacancy decontrol* control vacancy control prohibits such rent increases. c. APPLICABILITY TO NEW DEVELOPMENT. Rent control can apply New development No new to new developments at the beginning of lease up, after 10 to 15 years development exemption* of operation, or never. exemption d. HOUSING TYPE EXEMPTION. Some policies exempt condominiums Condo conversion No condo and/or single-family houses from rent control. Landlords can convert rent- conversion exemption* controlled units to condos to receive market-rate returns upon sale. exemption e. UNIT REGISTRATION. Rent control policies require unit registration Unit registration Unit registration to facilitate enforcement. not required required f. OTHER EXEMPTIONS. Rent control ordinances allow other Exceptions Petition rent board exemptions, such as raising rents for substantial improvements to the for substantial for above-formula unit or justifying other cost factors listed in an ordinance to a rent board. improvements rent increase Ends at a specific g. EXPIRATION DATE. Rent control can end at a specific time or exist No sunset clause perpetually. time Source: ECONorthwest analysis; California Tenants’ Rights (2016). Note: Three other policy parameters include rent rollback, eviction regulation, and rent control board composition. The asterisk (*) in the above graphic denotes levers that are limited by the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. This law limits rent control in California to buildings built before 1995, prohibits vacancy control, and exempts single family dwellings, condos, and new construction from rent control. 2 ECONorthwest & UC Berkeley’s Center for Community Innovation TITLE HERE (OPTIONAL) WHICH POLICY HOW DO PARAMETERS HAVE DEVELOPERS THE GREATEST AND INVESTORS IMPACT ON RESPOND? FEASIBILITY? Year of Policy Reduced Building Application Valuations Rent Growth Reduced Loan Size for New Limits Development POLICY PARAMETERS HOW INVESTORS AND DEVELOPERS RESPOND Of the policy parameters tested, the timing of when policy applies and the limit on annual rent We found that even in the case of rent control increases had the biggest impact on feasibility of policies with high annual rent increase limits, new construction: investors and lenders still factor some risk into ▪ Timing: The market response for policies how they value a property. This takes the form of: that apply starting in year 15 is different than ▪ Risk Premiums on Building Valuation. for policies that apply in year 1. Based on our Our interviewees indicated that strict rent assumptions, our modeling shows a developer control policies could impact how much a could pay approximately twice as much (and potential buyer would be willing to pay, based potentially more) for land subject to policies on the (reduced) net operating income of that impact new construction in year 15, as the building. Developers confirmed that a compared to the same parameters when building’s value might be reduced upon sale for applied at year 1. multifamily housing developments under a more ▪ Rent Growth Limit: Many of the developers stringent rent control policy. we spoke with said that AB 1482’s rent growth Reduced Loan Amounts from Banks. limit of 5% plus inflation was above what they ▪ Lenders noted they would likely reduce the would model for underwriting. But there are total loan amount relative to total value for new precedent policies with lower rent increase developments with a more stringent rent control limits, and some developers perceive that future policy. legislation could lower AB 1482’s limits. The Impact of Rent Control Policies on Bay Area Housing Supply: Developer Perceptions and Development Calculus 3 THE IMPACT OF RENT CONTROL POLICIES ON BAY AREA HOUSING SUPPLY: DEVELOPER PERCEPTIONS AND DEVELOPMENT CALCULUS INFORMING A CLEAR DISCUSSION AROUND RENT CONTROL Policymakers and stakeholders should more carefully differentiate between strict rent control and anti-price gouging policies, like California’s Assembly Bill 1482. Exhibit 2 provides an initial framework that communities can think about to characterize existing and potential policies. We defined stringency as follows: an anti-price gouging policy is unlikely to constrain rent increases in the marketplace, a moderate rent control policy limits rents from rising more than what might be considered typical in the market, and a strict rent control policy might consistently limit rent increases. Exhibit 2. Types of Rent Control Policies ANTI-PRICE MODERATE STRICT GOUGING RENT RENT