OPINION — America’s housing affordability crisis is devastating tens of millions of middle- and working-class tenants, who are drowning under unfair, excessive rents and face the prospect of homelessness.
According to recent research, rents across major U.S. cities, including Phoenix, have surged 36% since 2020. Miami and Tampa have seen rent increases of more than 50%. It may seem like a hopeless situation.
An often-overlooked white paper published in the Harvard Business Review in 2024 offers answers to today’s questions, including sensible ways to address the housing-affordability crisis. Rather than push the real estate industry’s flawed trickle-down agenda, the authors made a different argument: Rent regulations are essential to protect hard-working tenants against powerful, predatory landlords.
