New Interactive Map Shows Disastrous Effects of Rent Control

By Kimberly Rau, MassLandlords, Inc.

An interactive map showing widespread property blight in the Boston area under rent control is live on rentcontrolhistory.com. We created the Rent Control History site to offer an historical view of the good and bad effects of rent control in Massachusetts.

This Roxbury building represents just one of hundreds of boarded-up, dilapidated properties from the rent control years. (Image License: CC BY-SA 4.0 MassLandlords, Inc.)

The map invites people to explore various areas of Boston, including Roxbury and Dorchester, and view property images and condition information as reported in a 1985 survey ordered by then-mayor of Boston Ray Flynn.

The results were grim. Many of the surveyed properties were abandoned, tax-delinquent and boarded up. Some were fire damaged. All had certainly lost value, creating a hit on property tax revenue.

“Massachusetts has been studied by academics, notably Autor, Palmer and Pathak in the Journal of Political Economy, 2014,” said MassLandlords Executive Director Doug Quattrochi in a press release announcing the map’s launch.

“Rent control had ‘spillover effect,’ meaning even uncontrolled properties lost value. Anything within line of site to a boarded up, rent-controlled dump lost value,” he added.

The map offers a view of hundreds of properties as they were photographed in 1985, and serves as additional evidence that while rent control helped some people (the lucky few who happened to be living in a rent-controlled apartment when the policy was enacted), it hurt everyone else.

Could There be More at Work Here than Rent Control?

Yes, certainly. We issued a press release about this on March 2, which prompted thoughtful comments summarized here.

A salient factor affecting the Boston housing market was the forced busing of students, which took place from approximately 1974 to 1988, and during which several dozen riots took place, mainly between 1974 and 1976. We should also remember the Boston Banks Urban Renewal Group (BBURG), roughly 1968–1972, which was an attempt to encourage homeownership by people of color. BBURG had the unintended consequence of blockbusting, in which homeowners and investors were incited to sell below value out of fear that people of color moving in next door would drive down values. Either or both could be believed to have contributed to “white flight” and disinvestment. How much impact these had, and whether the timeframes line up, is a question for further research.

It is also important to remember that rent control’s failings were obvious and long-running, such that the program was repeatedly modified. It is believed that Boston Mayor Ken White had enacted vacancy decontrol for owner-occupied threes and fewer in 1975. This would tend to cover approximately three-quarters of our dataset. It is further believed that Ray Flynn increased the rent control cap to 12.5% per year in 1984. Whether these changes tend to discredit the dataset is unclear.

Suffice it to say that the boarded-up property survey cannot be explained away by factors other than rent control.

This South Dorchester building was also boarded up during the rent control years, although it remained privately owned (at least in 1985). (Image License: CC BY-SA 4.0 MassLandlords, Inc.)

Where Did the Map Data Come From?

The dataset comes from a MassLandlords member who purchased a property that had old city records in the garage. That’s the reason we only have a few neighborhoods represented. However, it is logical to presume that other neighborhoods experienced similar property blight, as rent control makes it nearly impossible to repair or renovate properties. (If you have any records from the 1985 Ray Flynn survey, or know someone who does, please email us at hello@masslandlords.net.)

The existence of the map represents many hours of work. The records were scanned in, and each property report became its own individual image. Then we plotted each property on the map, to create an interactive experience.

When you click on a property, you will see a card that includes a photograph of the building in 1985, along with notes from the survey. This includes whether the property was boarded up, its tax status and any other relevant information.

We have made this map freely available to the public for educational purposes, and because we hope researchers will find it useful.

What’s Next for RentControlHistory?

This data release represents Phase II of III for RentControlHistory.com. We have also scanned thousands of pages of minutes from years of rent control board meetings and hearings. Rent control boards were a big part of the reason rent control was so disastrous. The way the current ballot question is worded, such boards are almost certainly going to make a comeback if the question passes in November.

The plan is to make these records available in Phase III.

What Can I Do To Stop Rent Control?

We are looking for donations of both money and time to continue opposing this bad policy. Visit our Stop Rent Control page to read more about our fight and donate, and then head over to our volunteers page to find out more about volunteer opportunities as we move toward November.

Please also share RentControlHistory.com with friends and anyone else you think may want to learn more about how rent control didn’t work then, and won’t work now.