There are growing challenges facing our region’s rental market. With construction slowing dramatically and demand remaining strong, but when supply fails to meet the needs, the result is rents rise, competition intensifies, and affordability slips further out of reach. These trends should serve as a wake-up call for action.

The Twin Cities Housing Alliance (TCHA) sees this as an opportunity to shift from challenges to solutions. By addressing underproduction and implementing forward-thinking policies, we can ensure the region’s housing market remains accessible and equitable.

Many qualified economists have provided insightful analysis of the challenges and negative externalities of rent control policies in response to recent proposals for a national rent cap. As the Executive Director of the Twin Cities Housing Alliance, I want to draw attention to how these issues resonate locally in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and why we believe there are many programs and policies that provide targeted assistance to those with income insecurity without impacting the housing market’s ability to deliver housing options and opportunities.