San Mateo County Examining Rent Control Ordinance Amid Skyrocketing Rents
SAN MATEO (CBS SF) – San Mateo County could become the next county in the Bay Area to adopt rent control.
County leaders said the recent tech boom has brought more jobs to the area, and the demand for housing has skyrocketed.
Housing advocates said people already living in the area are having trouble keeping up.
"We are seeing people displaced, being forced out, on an ongoing basis. We're also seeing a lot of people trying to absorb massive rent increases, $700, $800, $1,000 increases in rent," Joshua Hugg of the San Mateo Housing Leadership Council told KPIX 5.
According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal, the County Board of Supervisors has formed a task force looking at policies to increase affordability, including the possibility of rent control in unincorporated areas.
Property owners said the measure is not needed and claim it would not solve the issue of affordability, saying there is a lack of supply.
"That would only be a policy that could benefit very few people and not provide a true long-term solution," Joshua Howard of the California Apartment Association told the journal.
