The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 on Tuesday, June 4 to extend the the current 4% rental increase cap on rental units located in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County for another six months, through Dec. 31, 2024. The supes also voted to impose a new rent cap pf 3% as of Jan. 1, 2025. Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley voted against the extension and new rental cap.

“My ‘no’ vote today reflects my belief that rent caps are the wrong approach to stabilizing our county’s housing crisis,” said Barger. “The rent cap formula selected by the majority of our board for next year does not include mortgage costs. Inflation is real. Further burdening property owners who also have bills to pay, such as rising homeowners insurance and are struggling to keep up with costs, is unbalanced and the wrong approach.”

The motion put forward by Supervisor Holly Mitchell extends the current 4% limit through the end of 2024. The new, lower limit would begin Jan. 1, 2025. The proposal would cap annual rent increases at 60% of the annual change in the consumer price index, a measure of how much costs in general are rising throughout the economy, with a ceiling of 3%.

Most rental housing built before Feb. 1, 1995 is covered by the county’s rent control ordinance, which applies in unincorporated areas of L.A. County.

A question and answer exchange between Barger and Los Angeles County’s Department of Regional Planning Director Amy Bodek during the Board of Supervisors meeting today revealed that 19,521 new housing units have been approved in the County in the last five years ,in unincorporated areas. In 2023, more than 4,800 housing units were approved. Of those, approximately 80% would be considered affordable, leaving only 20% as rentals at actual market rates. During the Board meeting, Los Angeles County’s Public Works Director Mark Pestrella further clarified that only 25% of those units (5,021) have been issued residential building permits–a core requirement for occupancy.

“Instead, we should focus our solutions on the power of supply and demand.” Barger said. “Accelerating the development of more new housing in our county is our way out of the housing crisis. That includes examining California Environmental Quality Act reform and eliminating red tape. Layering restrictions on property owners wrongly treats a symptom and not the root cause of housing instability.”

The State of California is requiring the county of Los Angeles to plan to accommodate 90,000 new housing units by 2029.