What to Do When the Rent Is Too High
If you’re renting your home, chances are your wallet might feel it when your lease renews this year as rents around the country are skyrocketing at a record pace. Nationally, one-bedroom apartments saw an increase of more than 24% in the last year, according to Rent.com. Some metro areas have seen increases as high as 40%, according to Redfin, and only two of the country’s most populous metro areas posted rent decreases (and those were slight).
While your choices are sparse, there are some things you can do if your landlord raises your rent to a level you can’t afford. We’ll get into the details, but the main categories of steps you can take involve:
- Checking your local laws
- Looking for rent subsidy programs
- Negotiating with your landlord
- Considering a move
Why Are Rents Increasing?
Before considering your options, it’s helpful to know the reasons for the spiraling rents. Primarily, experts say, it’s a matter of supply and demand. We haven’t been building enough residential units since the real estate collapse and recession around 2008; and now our largest generation, the millennials, is establishing their own households. Also, construction costs have continued to rise while the construction industry grapples with a labor shortage some say is exacerbated by a tightening of immigration policy in the last few years.
“Historically, for the past decade or so, there have not been a lot of new starts in multifamily housing construction,” said Mitria Wilson Spotser, director of housing policy for the Consumer Federation of America. The same has held true for single-family homes. “A lot of people who want to buy can’t buy.” This increases the number of people who need to rent.
According to , home prices were up 26.5% in March, compared to two years ago, while the number of active listings for sale was down nearly more than 62% in the. Every state has lost low-rent housing units since 2011, according to the .
