Opinion: Rising Rents and Growing Homelessness Are Related Crises Caused by Failed Policy

San Diego rents are at an all-time high, and our homeless population continues to increase. This can be attributed to government-imposed mandates that drive up the costs of housing and a failure to manage a growing mental health crisis.

There are things our elected leaders can do to help to change this narrative, but they will need reverse direction on how to address these two crucial issues. 

San Diego elected leaders have attempted to legislate us out of a housing and homeless crisis using ineffective measures such as rent control, no-fault eviction mandates, and costly constriction permit fees. These actions have only exacerbated the rental and homeless crisis we face today. 

It’s time for our elected leaders to stop trying to solve the rental and homeless crisis by stripping away private property rights and begin to focus on real solutions such as training and recruiting more mental health workers, privatizing permitting to speed up home construction. and lowering building costs by reducing permit fees. It appears that some of our elected officials failed to grasp the adverse effects rent control and permit fees would have on affordability in San Diego. 

San Diego rent is now the highest it’s ever been. The average rent in the county was $2,417 a month at the start of June. That’s the highest ever recorded for San Diego County and represents a 3.4% increase in a year. 

Downtown San Diego’s homeless population exceeds 2,000 for first time, marking a new high in the number of individuals living without shelter in the area. There are an estimated 3,285 homeless people living without shelter throughout the city, a 32% increase from 2022. 

In an attempt to prevent homelessness, the San Diego City Council recently voted for a rental protection ordinance, but this ordinance will do more harm than good as rental property owners may be forced to sell their income properties due to punitive eviction mandates. This will further limit the supply of rentals in our region.

Additionally, there is no long-term study or data provided by the city to support the claim that requiring landlords pay two-months rent to a tenant before moving out would have any impact on homelessness. Providing tenants with financial relocation assistance is a good business practice, but it should not be mandated by government, it should be negotiated between renter and landlord.  

On the surface, rent control may appear to be a viable solution to the rental housing crisis, but the unintended consequences heavily outweigh the rewards. The problem of skyrocketing rents was not caused by greedy developers or uncompassionate property owners, but is the result of overzealous building regulations, outrageous permit fees and excessive environmental restrictions that stifled the building of new homes in San Diego. 

Some in government would like to solve the problem of high rents by stripping away homeowner’s personal property rights through rent control and more governmental regulations oblivious to the unintended consequences. But the primary reason for high rental prices in San Diego is simple: supply and demand. Rents increase as more renters compete for the available housing.

It is obvious that some of our elected officials did not fully understand the unintended consequences rent control would have on affordability in San Diego. Renters are looking for housing that will allow them to live self-sufficient lives in a safe community, and government can make this happen by removing rent control and allowing the free market work successfully as it does in other industries.

Stripping away private property rights and imposing rental restrictions on homeowners are ill-advised attempts to solve the rental crisis and homeless crisis. San Diego is now feeling the impact of misguided leadership and poor decision making. Rather than knee-jerk reactions, real solutions are needed. These include recruiting more mental healthcare workers, reducing costly permit fees and protecting private property rights. 

Local government cannot regulate San Diego out of a rental or homeless crisis. If our elected leaders continue to pass laws that drive up home prices and infringe on private property rights, in no time at all we will end up like Los Angeles, whose homeless population is nearly 70,000, or San Francisco, where the average rent for an apartment is $3,313 — even higher than San Diego. 

Mark Powell is a licensed California Real Estate Broker and a former San Diego County Board of Education member.