LA City Council Caps Rent Hikes for Stabilized Units

The Los Angeles City Council is cutting back on rent increases for rent-stabilized apartments.

On Wednesday, the City Council voted 12–2 to approve changes to the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance that affects about 624,000 residential units built on or before Oct. 1, 1978, Commercial Observer reported. The changes for the year from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 call for a 1 percent floor and 4 percent ceiling on annual rent increases for these properties.

Under current regulations, landlords with units subject to the current rent stabilization guidelines are permitted to increase rent by either up to 8 percent or 3 percent plus the annual percentage change in the consumer price index in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area, whichever is lower.

About 624,000 units across 118,000 properties are subject to the RSO, per L.A. Housing Department data cited by Commercial Observer. More than half of renters in Los Angeles spend more than 30 percent of their monthly income on rent.

The proposal could keep some renters with tight budgets in their homes.

“What is happening, and I’m seeing it among constituents, is that they’re looking at the landscape of economic insecurity ahead… and they’re choosing not to bet on L.A. anymore. And when our people leave, we lose what is best about L.A.,” Councilmember Nithya Raman, who proposed the changes, said ahead of the council’s vote. “Our affordability crisis is making L.A. less resilient and is making it less possible for people to live here.”

So-called “mom and pop” landlords with smaller properties will be especially affected after dealing with pandemic-era rent freezes and the post-wildfire rent moratorium. Those owners of properties with two to 10 units will receive support for repairs and rehabilitation, Los Angeles Magazine reported. The changes could stand in the way of apartment owners keeping up with maintenance costs, opponents of the bill say. Developers might also shy away from proposing new multifamily projects.

“We always argue that we don’t want more corporate ownership [of residences]. What we’re driving by doing these policies is for that to increase in the city of L.A.,” Councilmember John Lee, who voted against the change, said. “We don’t want to be the cause of why people are not building here, because they can see that with a stroke of the pen, [the] council can do whatever it wants… This is just another example of how we’re going to disincentivize building here in the City of L.A. and push more ownership into corporate ownership.”

The rent stabilization changes expire next summer.

— Chris Malone Méndez