> quantity and quality do not necessarily lead to affordability for the same population as re t control.
Rent control is not need-based. People across the wealth spectrum enjoy the personal benefits of rent control (in SF there is no shortage of housholds bringing home several hundred thousand dollars a year who pay way below market rents on their rent-controlled apartments).
The problem with getting rid of it is that the benefits of more housing supply relative to demand would probably take decades to come to fruition. But the pain of suddenly losing rent control (for the percentage of people who actually do need it) is felt immediately. Who cares if your city will have lots of cheap housing in a decade if you can't pay rent next month?