One of Los Angeles County’s last rent freezes from the pandemic was dropped by a unanimous vote of the Beverly Hills City Council.
The council voted June 27 to allow landlords of rent-stabilized units to charge a 3.2 percent increase for the first time in three years. Reportedly, the only municipality in the county with a rent freeze is the City of Los Angeles, with a rent increase moratorium that runs until Jan. 31, 2024.
Beverly Hills has a relatively small number of rent-controlled apartments, about 6,500 units. Tenants pay a median of $2,550, according to meeting comments from the Beverly Hills City Manager’s office. It’s close to the average Los Angeles rent of $2,770, according to RentCafe.
The Beverly Hills City Council also approved a rent increase for another class of rent-controlled units which number less than 200. Tenants pay around $600 per unit in buildings that were constructed in 1978 or before. This class of rent-controlled units were given a 5.94 percent increase.
Vice-Mayor Lester Friedman said that the council worked for a balance with the 3.2 percent increase. A higher increase had the potential to shake the city’s rental market.
“After three years of no increases, the numbers have been presented to us that there have been 14.9 percent of income not charged,” Friedman said. “Counterbalancing that is that 50 percent of units have gone to market rate because they turned over.”
Dan Yukelson, executive director of landlord advocacy group Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, owns a four-unit building in Beverly Hills. He said that the green light for a 3.2 percent increase won’t match the costs property owners have been forced to bear during the pandemic. Yukelson also noted that no increase will be effective until after Aug. 1.
”They really screwed property owners over these last three years. They just don’t appreciate the sacrifices people make to invest in and maintain rental properties,” he said.
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