Data shows rent control’s impact
There are some perks to renting the same San Francisco apartment for 46 years — such as paying around $1,000 for a home in Pacific Heights.
That’s the case for one renter on the 1700 block of Broadway, according to San Francisco’s database of rent-controlled homes. Most of the other renters in the same 41-unit building pay $2,750 to $3,500 for a one-bedroom apartment of a similar size — between 750 and 1,000 square feet.
Because of San Francisco’s 1979 rent stabilization law — passed a year before the Broadway renter moved into their building — many residents who stay in their apartments for decades now pay far less than their neighbors, the housing inventory data shows.
And since 2022, San Francisco has required property owners of homes affected by its renter protection laws to submit information about their units each year. That information includes data on the size of the unit, how long the tenants have lived there and how much they pay in rent.
Owners of a home covered by San Francisco’s rent control and eviction protection rules are allowed to implement an annual rent increase only if they report their information to the Rent Board, according to executive director Christina Varner. Landlords can still raise rent for other reasons, including certain renovations, if they haven’t submitted data.
But many landlords haven’t sent in their information, Varner acknowledged, leading some tenants to report their rent increases as unlawful. The Rent Board is reaching out to landlords to make sure they get their records in, she added.
The allowable rent increase in San Francisco, which is calculated annually based on 60% of the Consumer Price Index, is 1.7% a year, according to the city, though landlords can “bank” increases for later years.
As of Friday, the city’s housing inventory included information for about 35,000 rent-controlled units for the 2024 submission year. Landlords are supposed to submit their information by March 1 every year, but some owners provide their records late, Varner said.
Most rented homes in San Francisco — about 250,000 units — fall under the city’s rent ordinance, according to the Rent Board.
Even among the units listed in the housing inventory, the information isn’t always consistent. Some homes are missing occupancy data, and some landlords include utility costs as part of rent while others don’t.
Despite those limitations, the housing inventory is one of the most detailed sources of information about the city’s rental stock.
Residents of a rentcontrolled home can check whether their landlord has received a license to increase their rent through the Rent Board’s online portal. Landlords need that license to raise rent, but can notify tenants about their intention to raise rents even if they don’t have a license yet.
Varner said tenants who believe their landlord illegally raised their rent should call or visit the Rent Board for assistance.