DSA and rent control will make housing more expensive

Democratic socialists are gaining ground in the United States this year. The country’s largest city is governed by one, and Democratic Socialists of America members are winning Democratic primaries in key states ahead of the midterm elections.

While the DSA surge may be new, its ideas and their appeal to many Americans aren’t. They’re following a familiar recipe: making big promises to solve real problems Americans are facing.

There’s one promise in particular that’s enticing to millions of Americans who are feeling priced out of the housing market: We’ll freeze rent.

For many Latinos who are struggling to pay rent or working hard to cover a mortgage, this promise can sound attractive enough to give DSA a chance.

But, as we all know, big promises are easy to make. Delivering on them is a different story.

And if you’re a Latino who fled from a socialist country, a socialist’s big promise sounds all too familiar.

So let’s unpack DSA’s biggest housing proposal and see if it would actually make housing more affordable.

Rent control: The DSA pitch

New York recently froze rents on almost 1 million homes whose rents are controlled by the government, as proposed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The 2026 DSA program goes even further. It calls for “universal rent control” as one of its big solutions for housing.

Their arguments go something like this:

• The cost of housing has grown out of control, so the government should do something about it.
• The best thing the government can do is ban rent increases.
• Landlords are already making enough — they can simply absorb the costs.

In the DSA world, you will not have to worry about a rent hike at the end of your lease. You’ll pay the same rent for years to come, with little to no negative effects.

The problem is, a lot of cities have tried rent control before.

Vamos a ver cómo les fue.

Three times rent control failed

San Francisco, St. Paul, and New York are three American cities that have imposed rent freeze programs.

They’ve all failed.

• San Francisco: After extending a rent control program in 1994, developers stopped building new housing and simply stepped out of the rental business. As a result, there was a sharp decline in housing supply, and prices went up
• Paul: Once the city capped rent increases at 3%, the number of new building permits collapsed from 2000 to less than 400 in 2025. What’s more, the program harmed lower-income owners while helping high-income tenants the most. The city was forced to change its rent control program in May of last year by permanently exempting newer construction.
• New York: The Big Apple has one of the largest rent-control programs in the country, with over 1 million rent-controlled units. However, since the program began in 1969, the cost of non-rent-controlled units has skyrocketed, and by June 2026, the median rent in Manhattan was $5,334.

Rent control has serious consequences.

When the government limits what landlords can charge, developers and builders will have no incentive to pour their dollars into building new housing. As a result, there will be fewer buildings and more people competing for too few homes.

Here’s how we really make housing affordable

America has a serious housing shortage. It’s estimated that the country is short about 4.7 million homes, making it harder for families to find affordable housing.

Instead of following DSA’s tired proposals, we should look at what the city of Austin did.

Instead of imposing price controls, Austin focused on the solution that would bring the most relief: It got rid of red tape and decided to build more houses.

Between 2015 and 2024, the city added 120,000 homes, increasing its housing supply by around 30%.

Unsurprisingly, as supply grew, inflation-adjusted rents fell by 19% between 2021 and 2025.

Austin shows us how to get housing prices back under control: Remove barriers to building and watch prices go down.

That’s the whole secret.

Ready to do something to get housing prices down?

Join The LIBRE Initiative as an activist, and we’ll put you to work in your own city.