July 8, 2026 1:32PM # Does Rent Control Redistribute from Poorer to Richer? By [Jeffrey Miron](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-miron) --- SHARE Listen to this article Generated with [ ElevenLabs](https://elevenlabs.io/) AI technology. Loading the [Elevenlabs Text to Speech](https://elevenlabs.io/text-to-speech) AudioNative Player... Rent control policies are gaining momentum on the [campaign trail](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/nyregion/mamdani-policies-economy-housing-buses-childcare.html?partner=slack&smid=sl-share#:~:text=Mr.%20Mamdani%E2%80%99s%20singular%20focus%20on%20the%20city%E2%80%99s%20affordability%20crisis%20resonated%2C%20especially%20with%20young%20voters.%20They%20embraced%20his%20populist%20promises%20to%20make%20bus%20service%20free%2C%20freeze%20rents%20on%20stabilized%20apartments%2C) and in statehouses. [New research](https://www.cato.org/research-briefs-economic-policy/redistribution-housing-wealth-caused-rent-control), though, confirms something economists have argued for a long time: rent control has serious adverse effects that undermine its rationale. The study > examines the effects of a rent control ballot measure passed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in November 2021, on property values. … \[Researchers found that t\]he law decreased rental property values by reducing expected future rental income and landlords’ incentives to invest in maintenance. In addition, > the effects of Saint Paul’s rent control law varied significantly by the income levels of renters, landlords, and owner-occupants. On average, rent control generated financial gains for renters and losses for owners, as expected. However, higher-income renters gained more than lower-income renters. … \[Also,\] lower-income landlords lost more wealth relative to their income than higher-income landlords. Finally, owner-occupants, despite not directly participating in the rental market, bore the greatest share of the total losses. The study > shows that the benefits of Saint Paul’s rent control law are distributed regressively to renters, while the costs are distributed regressively to landlords. *Cross-posted from* [*Substack*](https://jeffreymiron.substack.com/) ##### Related Tags [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).