Stuck: A Housing Affordability Crisis Story
No one likes to move from one apartment to another, but when people stay in their same apartments, they usually have plenty of complaints about their housing situation. Even rent-controlled apartments become unaffordable after a while. Under the current rent control laws in the District of Columbia, landlords can raise rents by up to ten percent per year. With the prices of almost everything increasing and wages remaining stagnant, people can easily get priced out of their own apartments just by staying where they are. In other words, the same apartment can become less affordable over time, even if it is rent-controlled. If unaffordability is the only problem with the apartment, count your blessings. Landlords who refuse to make repairs and bothersome neighborhoods contribute more to the unpleasantness of apartment dwelling even more than unaffordability does. Of course, for every complaint a tenant has about the landlord-tenant relationship, the landlord has three, but even the most annoying tenants are better than a vacant apartment with nobody paying rent. It appears that, this summer, landlords do not have to worry about numerous apartments suddenly becoming vacant in their residential rental properties. For help strategizing about staying afloat in the current real estate market, contact a Washington, D.C. real estate lawyer.
More Tenants Are Renewing Their Leases and Staying in Their Apartments This Summer
Earlier this month, Diana Olick of CNBC news reported that this summer is shaping up to be a slow season for movers. More people move between June and August than at any other time of year; households with children account for a large part of this trend, because moving in the summer makes it possible to avoid changing schools in the middle of the academic year. This year, a higher number of tenants have chosen to renew their leases and stay in their apartments for another year.
Where are these inert tenants not going, and why are they staying where they are? The segment of the population transitioning from renting to first-time homeownership is virtually nonexistent this year. By now, you have probably heard the news about how an entire generation is being priced out of homeownership. It remains to be seen what will happen in the coming years, as house prices in the D.C. area are expected to fall.
As for why tenants are not moving from one rental apartment to another, money is also the reason. The costs of moving to a new apartment are simply prohibitive, assuming that tenants can even get approved for a new apartment. The security deposit and the cost of the moving truck are more than anyone can afford in an economy where people who earn $100,000 per year are living paycheck to paycheck and 24 percent are functionally unemployed, meaning that their employment income is not enough to afford necessities.
Contact Tobin O’Connor Ewing About Coping With a Tough Rental Real Estate Market
A Washington, D.C. real estate attorney can help you if your tenants can’t afford to move, preventing you from charging higher rents to new tenants. Contact Tobin, O’Connor, and Ewing in Washington, D.C. or call 202-362-5900.
Sources:
cnbc.com/2025/05/09/housing-apartment-renters-renewals-low-turnover.html
dhcd.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dhcd/publication/attachments/RentControlFactSheet.pdf
