How the Democratic Candidates Would Tackle the Housing Crisis – The New York Times

Landlords cannot be allowed to raise rents to whatever they want, whenever they want, Mr. Sanderss campaign wrote in response to the survey, adding that he would encourage states and cities to enact even stricter rent control.

Ms. Warrens campaign said that she did not want a federal rent control law but that she strongly supports state and local rent control efforts, which she believes will be more effective at protecting renters from unacceptable rent increases while ensuring adequate affordable housing supply.

Mr. Bloomberg said he opposed national rent control, and Mr. Bidens plan does not mention it.

The candidates are evenly split on the question of a tax credit for renters, and not along the usual ideological lines: Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders support it, while Mr. Bloomberg and Ms. Warren do not.

Under Mr. Bidens plan, renters would receive the credit if their rent and utilities exceeded 30 percent of their income, and the credit would be large enough to bring the costs down to that 30 percent mark. He said he would allocate $5 billion a year for the credit, which would help low-income individuals and families who may make too much money to qualify for a Section 8 voucher but still struggle to pay their rent.

Mr. Sanderss campaign said that while he supported a renters tax credit, it must be paired with rent control to ensure it is not a windfall for real estate investors. Landlords should not be allowed to raise rents at will and then have the federal government subsidize those rent increases, he said.

Ms. Warren, by contrast, said that while she supported robust funding for rental assistance programs, the housing crisis was rooted in a lack of supply, and that she wanted to focus on policies that would address the shortage of affordable housing.

Individual proposals, especially ones as forceful as national rent control, are subjects of disagreement among advocates and experts and, of course, among candidates. But rarely has the debate played out on such a large stage.

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How the Democratic Candidates Would Tackle the Housing Crisis - The New York Times