Mexico City assembly OKs strongest rent control since the 1940s, limiting rises to inflation rate
The legislature of Mexico City has approved the most ambitious rent control law since the 1940s, which will limit increases to the inflation rate each year
MEXICO CITY — The legislature of Mexico City approved the most ambitious rent control law since the 1940s Thursday, limiting rent increases to the rate of inflation in the previous year.
Rents in the vast city of 9 million inhabitants were essentially frozen in the 1940s, and remained so for decades on older buildings. Those controls were largely lifted in the 1990s.
The new law will also require landlords to register all rental agreements with the city. It was unclear whether the new law will allow landlords to charge more for improvements on their properties.
Mexico City, like many around the world, had seen complaints that rents were shooting up because of digital nomads and short-term rentals. But it appears that largely affected only a handful of touristy neighborhoods near the center of the sprawling metropolis.
“A lot of people with higher incomes are willing to pay more for housing, both by buying and renting it,” said legislator Martha Soledad Avila Ventura of the governing Morena party. “Moreover, short-term rentals on the internet have made it a question of profit, which has resulted in the expulsion of the traditional residents of the capital.”
In recent years, a shortage of land and saleable properties has sparked a cut-throat real estate market in which property prices increased well above the rate of inflation.
However, the new law doesn't address the city’s real problem: a shortage of housing units. Legislators estimated there are about 2.7 million houses and apartments in the city, but it needs about 800,000 more.
The city has long depended on
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