Ohio State Legislature Puts the ‘Kabash’ on Rent Control
Housing Advocate, Roger Valdez of the Center for Housing Economics Weighs-In
The Ohio Legislature has passed and Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine, has signed legislation that preempts local jurisdictions in Ohio from imposing rent control. As a result, experts believe that this might just be a new trend with Ohio possibly leading the country toward better rental housing policy. According to Roger Valdez of the Center for Housing Economics in Seattle, Washington who played a part in the bill’s passage: “They sure delivered with the passage of House Bill 430. We've been working closely with Ohio real estate investors over the last three years, and the work they're doing is paying off.”
In a statement released by Valdez, his organization has long been advocates of cash for rent to buy down the "cost burden" of renting housing rather than the predominant, inefficient, and grossly expensive non-profit housing construction. According to Valdez: “Finally, a left leaning group has endorsed this idea. We led, and now they seem to be following the logic: why wait years to build pricey housing units when most households just need a few hundred dollars to get ahead of rent? The Urban Institute [of Ohio] seems to be singing our song.” Recent audits conducted by Los Angeles City Controller, Ron Galperin, have concluded that bond money raised to construct affordable housing is being deployed ineffectively and is being wasted as relatively few units have been constructed at a cost for a one-bedroom unit upwards of $800,000 each. Studies conducted around the San Francisco Bay Area have concluded that one-bedroom affordable housing units may cost as much as $1 million each.
Valdez and his organization support revised zoning practices. In a statement made by Valdez: “How about getting rid of zoning, what I've called a 20th Century solution to a 19th century problem? Too radical? Not really. Housing advocates, even armchair quarterbacks such as planners and YIMBY advocates are getting more and more frustrated with zoning. On the July 4th holiday I suggested we declare our independence from zoning laws, rules that just complicate and make housing more expensive for people who need it. Keep building codes, but dump zoning.”
Valdez continued: “Even voters in cities like San Francisco are getting tired of restrictive and counterproductive housing policies and lack of progress on addressing homelessness and encampments. Do the elections in some west coast cities represent a turn around? Not by themselves, but, if we keep up our efforts, there could be some common ground to build on for sane housing policy even in larger cities.
Valdez takes issue with Mandatory Inclusionary Housing policies: “Finally, some trade groups and associations that should be looking out for developers, builders, and housing providers aren't. For years we've been pointing out the slow-motion car wreck of Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning, a scheme that taxes new housing and siphons that cash to non-profit housing developers; It's legalized bribery. Read about how one local group was a "day late and a dollar short," while we've been steadily opposed to the Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning regime ever since it was suggested.” Valdez refers to his recent Forbes article discussing the impact on Seattle’s tax on new housing called Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA), which he refers to as “an intervention” that charges a fee per square foot for new housing that doesn’t include rent restricted units, which he compares to bribery and characterizes the policy as “a day late and a dollar short” in that it demonstrates how the lack of ideas and courage by builders and developers plague the outcome of housing policy in the United States.
In conclusion, Valdez states: “I'll admit, like many of you, we've been through a couple rough years with the pandemic and eviction bans, but we've persevered, pointing out and urging changes in rent relief distribution.”