2008 Woodie Awards
City council to consider rent stabilization
Amanda Bergeron
Issue date: 12/2/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Boston City Councillor-at-Large Felix Arroyo has authorized a bill that could be the answer to the city's dilemma of high rent and low-quality housing.
If passed, the Community Stabilization Act would protect tenants, upon lease renewal, from rent increases that exceed 10 percent during the rental time, with a reassessment of the act every 10 years.
It would also allow them to appeal to the city if any increase was greater than that amount.
Another clause in the bill would provide additional protection for the elderly, the disabled and low-income families, all of whom would be shielded from an increase of 5 percent or higher.
Although some critics of the legislation say it is nothing more than rent control with a new name, supporters of Arroyo's policy say it will help stabilize the rental market for residents.
However, new tenants must still be prepared to pay market price.
Rental prices in Boston have increased dramatically over the past decade, forcing many people out of apartments that they could once afford.
Before 1994, Boston, like many other large U.S. cities, employed rent control laws.
These laws capped rent prices, often discouraging landlords from paying close attention to the state of their buildings, allowing their quality to decline.
Through a voter referendum question that year, rent control was abolished.
Today, however, people living in Boston must contend with continually-climbing prices, and while many understand the impossibility of reverting to full rent-control laws, they would like to see something done.
According to Christy Letizia, director of Emerson's off campus student services office (OCSS), students living off campus, who make up over half of Emerson's population, can expect to pay between $650-$850 per month per person, with an average of three roommates.
A studio apartment with only one room, for example, would cost between $1,000 and $2,000 per month, making living with multiple roommates a generally more economical decision.
In 1998, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the Beacon Hill/Back Bay area was $1,900.
In 2003, the monthly rent for these same apartments had increased to $2,250, a 7 percent increase from 2002 rates.
Emerson senior print and multimedia journalism major Caitlin Kenney is currently living in Beacon Hill.
She shares a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate. Together, they pay $1,500 per month, excluding heat and hot water.
While recognizing the unlikelihood of rent control in Boston, she said, "I think that when you rent an apartment, it should stay at the same price for the entire term of the lease."
Letizia, who is also a former member of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, said she understands the flaws of rent control.
"As far as rent control goes, experience seems to show that it doesn't always work effectively," she said.
She also said that "a [more] proactive way of dealing with this issue may be to continue to develop affordable housing in the city of Boston."
And while many off-campus students specifically seek out more expensive neighborhoods such as the Back Bay, Beacon Hill and Bay Village for their convenient locations near Emerson's Campus on the Common, more students are looking to other neighborhoods for lower rents and larger apartments.
For sophomore new media major Jeremiah Cohick, taking the T to campus each day from his apartment in Dorchester is well worth the time and effort for a lower rent but larger apartment.
Living with two roommates in a two-bedroom apartment, Cohick pays $350 per month and shares his room with one person. The total rent on the apartment is $1,400 each month. This "amazing apartment" is one of more than 1,500 apartments in Harbor Point, which houses over 3,000 residents, including a growing number of Emerson students and those from other nearby colleges, including UMass Boston, Boston University and Northeastern University.
Cohick said he is satisfied with his living arrangements.
"You pay so much money for an apartment that is so small and old in the areas around school," he said. "My apartment is new and spacious."
While some students find ways to cope with skyrocketing costs through help from parents or finding apartments further away from campus, others are left to the mercy of landlords.
Arroyo said that this act would ensure "a consideration from the owner to the tenant."
He said he believes tenants who have rented from a landlord for two or three years have already helped to pay the mortgage of the building and should not have to pay more, because the mortgage has not increased.
However, critics such as the Small Property Owners of America (SPOA) believe that this act should be considered as rent control in disguise, and that it will be detrimental to land owners.
Arroyo maintains that his bill should not be considered as a form rent control.
His argument is that, unlike rent control, "prices can continue to increase; if there is a vacant apartment, it can go straight to market price."
It is his intention that the bill will "stabilize neighborhoods," allowing people to live in an apartment without having to worry about their landlord "surprising them" with impossibly high rent increases.
The City Council held a hearing on the Neighborhood Stabilization Act last month. Currently, councillors are divided on the issue. A vote on the proposed bill will take place later this month.
If passed, the Community Stabilization Act would protect tenants, upon lease renewal, from rent increases that exceed 10 percent during the rental time, with a reassessment of the act every 10 years.
It would also allow them to appeal to the city if any increase was greater than that amount.
Another clause in the bill would provide additional protection for the elderly, the disabled and low-income families, all of whom would be shielded from an increase of 5 percent or higher.
Although some critics of the legislation say it is nothing more than rent control with a new name, supporters of Arroyo's policy say it will help stabilize the rental market for residents.
However, new tenants must still be prepared to pay market price.
Rental prices in Boston have increased dramatically over the past decade, forcing many people out of apartments that they could once afford.
Before 1994, Boston, like many other large U.S. cities, employed rent control laws.
These laws capped rent prices, often discouraging landlords from paying close attention to the state of their buildings, allowing their quality to decline.
Through a voter referendum question that year, rent control was abolished.
Today, however, people living in Boston must contend with continually-climbing prices, and while many understand the impossibility of reverting to full rent-control laws, they would like to see something done.
According to Christy Letizia, director of Emerson's off campus student services office (OCSS), students living off campus, who make up over half of Emerson's population, can expect to pay between $650-$850 per month per person, with an average of three roommates.
A studio apartment with only one room, for example, would cost between $1,000 and $2,000 per month, making living with multiple roommates a generally more economical decision.
In 1998, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the Beacon Hill/Back Bay area was $1,900.
In 2003, the monthly rent for these same apartments had increased to $2,250, a 7 percent increase from 2002 rates.
Emerson senior print and multimedia journalism major Caitlin Kenney is currently living in Beacon Hill.
She shares a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate. Together, they pay $1,500 per month, excluding heat and hot water.
While recognizing the unlikelihood of rent control in Boston, she said, "I think that when you rent an apartment, it should stay at the same price for the entire term of the lease."
Letizia, who is also a former member of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, said she understands the flaws of rent control.
"As far as rent control goes, experience seems to show that it doesn't always work effectively," she said.
She also said that "a [more] proactive way of dealing with this issue may be to continue to develop affordable housing in the city of Boston."
And while many off-campus students specifically seek out more expensive neighborhoods such as the Back Bay, Beacon Hill and Bay Village for their convenient locations near Emerson's Campus on the Common, more students are looking to other neighborhoods for lower rents and larger apartments.
For sophomore new media major Jeremiah Cohick, taking the T to campus each day from his apartment in Dorchester is well worth the time and effort for a lower rent but larger apartment.
Living with two roommates in a two-bedroom apartment, Cohick pays $350 per month and shares his room with one person. The total rent on the apartment is $1,400 each month. This "amazing apartment" is one of more than 1,500 apartments in Harbor Point, which houses over 3,000 residents, including a growing number of Emerson students and those from other nearby colleges, including UMass Boston, Boston University and Northeastern University.
Cohick said he is satisfied with his living arrangements.
"You pay so much money for an apartment that is so small and old in the areas around school," he said. "My apartment is new and spacious."
While some students find ways to cope with skyrocketing costs through help from parents or finding apartments further away from campus, others are left to the mercy of landlords.
Arroyo said that this act would ensure "a consideration from the owner to the tenant."
He said he believes tenants who have rented from a landlord for two or three years have already helped to pay the mortgage of the building and should not have to pay more, because the mortgage has not increased.
However, critics such as the Small Property Owners of America (SPOA) believe that this act should be considered as rent control in disguise, and that it will be detrimental to land owners.
Arroyo maintains that his bill should not be considered as a form rent control.
His argument is that, unlike rent control, "prices can continue to increase; if there is a vacant apartment, it can go straight to market price."
It is his intention that the bill will "stabilize neighborhoods," allowing people to live in an apartment without having to worry about their landlord "surprising them" with impossibly high rent increases.
The City Council held a hearing on the Neighborhood Stabilization Act last month. Currently, councillors are divided on the issue. A vote on the proposed bill will take place later this month.