Rent control is counter productive. From the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis:
Weighing Trade-offs
Economists generally have found that, while rent-control policies do restrict rents at more affordable rates, they can also lead to a reduction of rental stock and maintenance, thereby exacerbating affordable housing shortages. At the same time, the tenants of controlled units can benefit from lower costs and greater neighborhood stability—as long as they don’t move.4
For policymakers considering rent control, economics can help them anticipate possible effects and may even inform policy design for those who decide to pursue such policies. Given the trade-offs, policymakers must balance maintaining affordability for those with rental housing, while possibly shrinking the stock of affordable housing for others, especially when such housing is already in short supply.
What Are the Long-run Trade-offs of Rent-Control Policies?
Targeting a pecuniary benefit to a low-income group seems like an easy solution. The shift of funds from the property owners to a social value, however, promotes undesireable long-term social shortfalls. These include the convesion of rental property to owner occupied housing as the incentives cause landlords to exit the market. Or a deterioration in the quality of rental housing as, again over a longer time frame, long term maintenance becomes more difficult to fund.
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