Rent control is basically subsidizing existing grandfathered tenants by fleecing those new wishing to move in, without fixing the underlying housing shortage in any way.
The solution is always, always, having (building) more supply than the demand, yet nobody seems to get it.
It is easy to hand wave "more building supply", but that's a medium to long term solution. What do we do in the short term?
Are we supposed to just allow landlords to hike people's rent anywhere between 10-40% year-over-year forcing them to be displaced?
There needs to be some middle ground.
YES! It's the long term solution which if it were implemented in a timely manner in the past, would have saved us today, but even though we are in a mess today, it's not being implemented even to this day due to bureaucracy, NIMBYism and various political issues which beat around the bush, instead of saying it straight: "Build more today so we can live easier tomorrow!"
>What do we do in the short term?
Also, build more. If you don't build in the short term, there will be no long term.
What if there’s a feedback loop between building more supply and increased (induced) demand?
Let's not kid ourselves, real estate prices there are insane due to monetary policies, bureaucracy and NIMBYism restricting building/supply for a million reasons, and not due to the lack of real estate in that area.