The ongoing debate over rent controls has heated up once again as Ben Twomey, the chief executive of Generation Rent, advocates for the policy as a crucial measure to protect renters from poverty and homelessness. Twomey’s comments come in response to a comprehensive study by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), which examined rent control policies globally.
The IEA’s study reviewed 65 instances of rent controls and found that while 56 of them successfully lowered rents, nearly all resulted in unintended consequences. These included a reduction in new housing developments, deterioration in the quality of rental properties, limited tenant mobility, and a misallocation of housing resources.
Twomey, however, argues that some of these so-called downsides could, in fact, benefit tenants. He suggests that the limitations on tenant mobility, criticized by the IEA, might actually relieve the pressures of frequent relocations. “Currently, the average rental period is only around three years,” Twomey stated, implying that longer tenancies could provide much-needed stability for renters.
He also dismissed concerns about the potential decline in housing quality under rent controls. “Around a million privately rented homes already fail to meet decent homes standards,” Twomey said, pointing out that more than 10% of private renters live in hazardous conditions, even in the absence of rent controls. He suggested that the notion rent controls would exacerbate these issues is “out of touch with the realities facing tenants today.”
Twomey emphasized that while rent controls aren’t a panacea, they would offer immediate relief for renters on low and middle incomes. “A fair approach to stabilizing rents—ensuring they don’t outpace wages or inflation—won’t drive landlords into poverty, but it would protect countless renters from that fate.”
In contrast, the IEA maintains that the evidence against rent controls is compelling. “Economists may often disagree, but on the issue of rent controls, the consensus is clear,” a spokesperson for the IEA commented. “Rent controls consistently lead to a reduction in the supply and quality of rental housing, stifle new construction, and hinder tenant mobility. The empirical evidence overwhelmingly supports these findings.”
As the debate continues, both sides agree on one point: the need for more affordable housing. However, the best approach to achieving this goal remains a contentious issue.
NetRent Comment
Twomey wants us to think he is fighting for tenants but in reality all he is doing is creating a fight. His modus operandi is to make outrageous claims backed by dubious statistics and present them all as concrete facts.
Rent controls haven’t worked – anywhere. Twomey knows that but it doesn’t suit his agenda to admit that fact. His agenda is confrontation, there’s no attempt to work with landlords or even accept that landlords have a future. In Twomey’s world every landlord is an evil money grabber and every tenant is a victimised saint. There is no compromise, no common ground.
The media is culpable in this by failing to question him both on his use of facts and figures and also on his policies. Meanwhile, he is using Generation Rent to create and maintain division, unrest and confrontation in the private rented sector. There is a saying – empty cans rattle the loudest.