Biden Pushes 5% Rent Increase Limit and Pushes for More Low-Income Rental Units

President Joe Biden announced a new plan on Tuesday to set government-imposed limits on housing prices for some rental units, a plan he claims will aid Americans struggling with skyrocketing housing costs and the astronomical costs of real estate, which have increased sharply since he took office.

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“Families deserve housing that’s affordable—it’s part of the American Dream. Rent is too high and buying a home is out of reach for too many working families and young Americans,” said President Biden.

“Today, I’m sending a clear message to corporate landlords: If you raise rents more than 5% on existing units, you should lose valuable tax breaks,” he said.

Biden’s new housing plan would force larger landlords to cap their yearly rent increases at five percent or risk losing federal tax breaks.

If a landlord owns more than 50 rental units and refuses to limit his rent increases to 5 percent per year, he will no longer be able to take advantage of rapid tax write-offs for property depreciation.

Biden’s plan would not impose criminal or civil penalties on landlords failing to comply with the rule, and any large landlords who prefer to raise rents rather than receive the tax breaks will be free to do so.

Landlords would be exempt from the rule on newly constructed units or units that have undergone recent, substantial renovations, potentially incentivizing more new constructions.

The plan would only be applied starting this year and for the next two years.

Biden’s announcement is not an executive order and instead serves as a call for Congress to pass legislation, meaning that it will need to pass through the Republican-controlled House before it can go into effect.

While asking Congress to impose his new rent regulations, Biden also announced a plan to sell federally owned land, which is slated to be developed for “affordable housing,” highlighting 20 acres of land in Nevada and suggesting the possibility of thousands of acres being sold for a similar purpose in the future.

The administration claimed that the 20 acres will be able to support 150 housing units, which will only be available to people making less than 80 percent of the local median income.

While Biden acknowledged the difficulties of purchasing a home in the current economy, his new announcement is largely silent on any measures intended to help Americans become homeowners.

Instead, the administration focused on allowing Americans to continue renting indefinitely and primarily on rental properties that are inaccessible to anyone making even the median income.

Politically speaking, the proposed price mandates are unlike to find favor among Republican lawmakers, and the proposal is something of a Hail Mary as Biden continues to trail former Republican President Donald Trump in battle ground state polls.