Push for rent control in Seattle is all about politics

Councilmembers Kshama Sawant and Nick Licata are pushing for rent control in Seattle to take on what they see as out-of-control rent.

It’s a somewhat disingenuous push though &#8212 it’s all about politics.

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The Legislature will not change the ban on rent control. You have a divided House and Senate and you won’t get Republican support on this. You’ll need it.

Sawant and Licata know that.

This is nothing but politics. It’s a political move. They’re putting up an empty resolution because they want to get their fellow councilmembers on the record to see who will support them and who won’t.

If you don’t, it’ll become a campaign issue in progressive city where some of the fringe elements can end up deciding an election.

And for Sawant &#8212 who I actually respect because she actually believes in this and has the tenacity to push it &#8212 this is still a part of her political campaign.

She knows this won’t go anywhere. She knows the state will look at the resolution and push it aside. But this riles up her base to vote for her because people who are feeling the pains of high rent in parts of the city are going to be sympathetic to any proposal that might help them.

It’s awful to give these people hope when, even if they got rid of the rent control ban, wouldn’t be immediately helped. They might not even avoid having to move.

And when you hear these people’s stories, it should make you feel bad that you’re giving them hope when there is none.

There are a number of reasons why rent control is a bad idea. The biggest is that it doesn’t actually work.

For one, it stifles interest from developers. Why would you want to spend tens of millions of dollars developing nice, luxury apartments, for which there is significant demand, if you can’t charge the market rate for rent? What’s your incentive? A slow, trickling in of dollars that will take even longer to recoup your investment?

As a result, you have fewer developers coming in and building apartments and condos. That’s not my guess. It’s not a hypothesis. We see it happening now in San Francisco.

At least 31,000 housing units are empty in San Francisco because people don’t want to be landlords anymore, according to SF Gate.

Why would they? They’d have to offer prices well below market value and that means you’re going to attract a certain level of tenant you may not want.

For example, maybe you don’t want the college student in your apartment or townhome because college students tend to be messy and disregard the long-term consequences of their behavior in a house that isn’t theirs. You automatically price most of them out by offering market rents because most college students can’t afford it.

Let’s say you have a developer who has property in Seattle and they are forced to push their rent down and never raise it in a meaningful way. The units that aren’t subject to rent control will see even higher rents, again, like in San Francisco.

If you’re in a rent control home, you’re less likely to move. In New York, you have tenants staying an average of 18 years longer in rent controlled units than in non-rent controlled units, according the American Institute for Economic Research. If you can never raise rents during their stay, even if the neighborhood’s economy is booming, why would you want to get into that business?

This is an issue that can be easily addressed. Stop living in neighborhoods you can’t afford.

I can’t afford to live in Medina. I don’t feel an entitlement to live there. If you can’t afford to live in South Lake Union, Belltown, Capitol Hill, or Ballard, then move. You do not have a right to live in the neighborhood of your choosing, but because Seattle city leaders live in these neighborhoods, they have a hyperfocus on it.

Move south.

I had a friend who bought a nice size home in the Rainier Valley for less than $200,000.

Move to Tukwila. Move to Renton. Move north. Go to Northgate.

There are so many nice, safe neighborhoods that are reasonably priced and near light rail and major Metro lines. City leaders love to say how good Metro and light rail is, but they don’t want you moving to those areas?

You’re not going to be able to afford every neighborhood and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s not that expensive to live in Seattle and if you’re unwilling to move to the neighborhoods that aren’t considered cool or hip, that’s on you.