Greg Brown

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ARLINGTON, VA—With the US rental population increasing by morethan 19.6 million people over the last ten years, there has beenpressure to increase rents—thus driving housing affordabilityissues to the top of nationwide multifamily housing discussions.Major markets including San Jose, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle,Boulder, Oakland, and Portland have seen rents rise by more than18% over the past four years prompting some area politicians andlegislators to call for an overall increase in rent control. Inother areas, most noticeably California, rent controls appearpoised to be put into place.

"The National Apartment Association (NAA) can unequivocally saywe are opposed to rent control," says Greg Brown, senior vicepresident for Government Affairs of the National ApartmentAssociation. "Rent control benefits current residents but doesnothing to solve long term housing nor does it expand supply."

37.5% of current US rental households spend 35% or more of theirincome on rent and 23% spend 50% or more of their income on rent.In states such as California, Florida, New York, Hawaii, Louisiana,New Jersey and Oregon where 40% or more of rental households spendover a third of their income on rent, affordability is obviously acomplex issue.