Controls beget more controls.

"Rent control needs retirement, not a comeback," wrote M McArdle. With property prices skyrocketing poor people have no choice but to live in rented accommodation, so controlling rents protects the poor from exploitation. "Initially, tenants rejoice, and rent control looks like a victory for the poor over the landlord class." "Rent control starts by producing some sort of redistribution, because the people with low rents at the time that controls are imposed tend to be relatively low income." But, "Deprived of the ability to make a profit, landlords skimp on maintenance and refuse to build new housing." Only few cities in the US have some form of rent control but this has resulted in shortage of housing because of a reduction of new housing and the refusal of tenants to vacate rent-controlled apartments. Some cities in the US ban this practice. The Rent Control Act in India dates back to 1947, and although politicians have talked about modifying the act to make it fair to landlords no party has had the guts to actually do anything. The result is a severe shortage of housing for rent so that only 28% of urban population lives in rented accommodation. 54% of people rented their dwellings in 1961. Without decent and affordable rented housing people cannot migrate to other cities in search of jobs with higher salaries, which means companies may be unable to find suitable workers. In India 12% of housing remains vacant because landlords are afraid to rent them out, 500,000 in Mumbai and 300,000 in Delhi. Most rent agreements are for 11 months, causing enormous inconvenience to families. If rent control was scrapped all these dwellings would be available for rent, making it easier for people to live, and causing a substantial fall in rents. A survey showed that 67% of people live in their own homes in metro cities, while 97% own their homes in undeveloped rural areas. Over half the homes are inherited, and around 30% are bought or constructed by the occupant. With no increase in rents landlords have no incentive to repair old buildings so collapses are common, with fatalities. Indian politicians always respond with violence to any situation, so the landlord is always arrested if a building collapses and heavy taxes are levied on properties lying vacant. Changing the rent act is politically difficult but it is easy to throw taxpayer money at the 'vote bank'. The government is building low cost housing and providing loans to poor people to buy their apartments. This could result in India's subprime crisis, wrote A Iyer, as people in the lowest segment refuse to repay their loans. A Nag wrote a similar article in Bloomberg. If loans to farmers can be forgiven why not loans for housing? The poor may not be educated but they are not stupid. Decontrol all controls.