Authorizing the Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless to hold public hearings to explore rent control in the City of Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, Rents in Philadelphia are rising, causing the city to become increasingly unaffordable for its lowest income residents, displacing communities of color, and creating a growing affordability and renter crisis; and

WHEREAS, According to a recent study of 50 of the largest U.S. cities, Philadelphia had the fourth largest rent increase between 2014-2017 while simultaneously having the highest poverty rate out of the ten largest U.S. cities; and

WHEREAS, In 2017, 53.4% of Philadelphia renters were cost-burdened, meaning they pay more than 30% of their income on rent, and 31% of Philadelphia renters were severely cost-burdened, meaning they spent more than 50% of their income on rent; and

WHEREAS, According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a minimum wage worker would have to work 3.4 full-time jobs in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, Investors are buying properties in Philadelphia at some of the highest rates in the country in the hopes of profiting from the “hot” rental market; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia City Council has enacted a local rent control ordinance in the 1950s; and

WHEREAS, 182 total cities and municipalities have rent control, with the largest being New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Oakland, CA; and Washington, DC; and

WHEREAS, There are currently no meaningful protections against rent increases in the City of Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, It is imperative that Philadelphia protect its most vulnerable residents; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That City Council’s Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless is hereby authorized to hold public hearings to explore rent control in the City of Philadelphia.

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