Dramatic rent increases in Providence are leading tenant activists and local elected officials to demand the city intervene with a rent stabilization policy.
In January, the activist group Direct Action for Rights and Equality drafted a advocating for rent stabilization. The proposal recommends that lawmakers cap annual rent increases at the lower of 4% or 75% of the yearly increase in the Consumer Price Index, an indicator used to track inflation.
Last year, rents rose an average of 7.5% in Providence 鈥� 鈥� and over double the national average of 3.2%.
Skyrocketing rents have driven many Providence residents to appeal to the local government for relief, according to City Councilor Miguel Sanchez. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that all of us (Council members) are hearing on a daily basis鈥� from constituents, he said. Sanchez added that some residents are reporting annual increases as high as 20 or 25%, numbers which far exceed both wage growth and inflation.
鈥淚 can definitely say that just (in the past four years) it has gotten dire, we are hearing about it on a more and more regular basis,鈥� Sanchez added.
For Naty Estrella, who has rented for over five years in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, rent increases have had major impacts on her life and community. 鈥淚t has been very tough,鈥� she wrote in a message to The Herald. 鈥淚 had to cut out a lot of activities we used to do as a family 鈥� I鈥檝e seen people moving out that have lived around me since I鈥檝e lived in this neighborhood.鈥�
Michael Ziegler GS, the political director of the Graduate Labor Organization, said that rent consumes the 鈥渓ion鈥檚 share鈥� of expenses for many graduate students at Brown. According to Ziegler, it鈥檚 common for graduate students to spend about half of a paycheck on rent. He expects GLO to support the rent stabilization ordinance once it is introduced to the City Council.
Clare Kearns GS was forced to move out of her East Side apartment to Pawtucket this year after her landlord increased her rent more than 50% over two years.
Kearns supports rent stabilization. 鈥淚 think affordable housing is and should be a human right, and I鈥檓 supportive of any and all efforts to make more affordable housing for folks who don鈥檛 earn as much money, (including) graduate students and many other Brown workers,鈥� she said.
According to Kinverly Dicupe, an organizer for Direct Action For Rights And Equality鈥檚 tenant housing association committee, the worsening conditions in the city led DARE to launch its rent stabilization campaign last month. 鈥淭here are very few people that I know that are capable of affording (Providence鈥檚 rents) on one salary,鈥� she said. 鈥淓veryone that I know of, whether in activism or not, is either living with roommates or living with family.鈥�
One central issue behind the increases, Dicupe said, is the lack of available housing. In 2021, the state鈥檚 housing production rate per 1,000 residents was the lowest in the United States, according to a September 2023 by Stefan Pryor, the state鈥檚 secretary of housing.
In Dicupe鈥檚 view, the lack of restrictions placed on landlords is also a significant driver of rent increases. For people who have the capital to purchase homes and apartments in Providence, 鈥渋t鈥檚 free money,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can just continually raise 鈥� the rent.鈥�
Sanchez, who strongly supports a rent stabilization ordinance, said that while 鈥淒ARE鈥檚 proposal is a good starting point,鈥� it will need to be vetted by the Council鈥檚 policy team. 鈥淏y the time it gets introduced (to the Council) it will look slightly different,鈥� he said. He expects the proposal to hit the Council鈥檚 docket later this year.
鈥淲ith how dire the crisis is, it would, in my opinion, be very irresponsible to not bring a rent stabilization bill through the public process,鈥� Sanchez said.
Rent stabilization advocates say that the policy, while an important step in protecting Providence renters, is just one part of the solution.
According to Ziegler, the ordinance would have to be paired with other policies that increase the supply of housing in the city. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 just a matter of municipal government,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o increase housing supply, we鈥檇 need help from the state.鈥�
Sanchez said the City Council is considering a number of longer-term solutions to the housing crisis. A proposed abolition of single-family zoning in the city is expected to reach the Council鈥檚 docket in a few weeks, and the body is looking to reconsider commercial property taxes that have 鈥減ushed away or stopped bigger housing developments in the past,鈥� Sanchez said.
But Mayor Brett Smiley has consistently opposed rent control policies even before he was elected mayor, according to from the Providence Journal. 鈥淲hile Mayor Smiley is deeply concerned about the cost of rent in Providence, rent stabilization has proven to be an ineffective policy in other communities,鈥� wrote Josh Estrella, the press secretary for the Smiley administration, in an email to The Herald.
Rent stabilization 鈥渄oes not control property costs, arbitrarily picks winners and losers, and often leads to unintended consequences such as reduced investments in property maintenance,鈥� Josh Estrella added. Instead of pursuing rent stabilization, the administration has focused on working 鈥渁ggressively to invest in and incentivize long-term affordable housing solutions and supported the development of housing options at every price point.鈥�
Estrella wrote that the administration has invested heavily in housing rehabilitation, eviction defense and has 鈥渕oved forward with important policy changes like strengthening our code enforcement practices and streamlining development processes.鈥�
Given the mayor鈥檚 opposition, the Council would need a veto-proof 10-vote majority to make rent stabilization law, Sanchez said.
Neil Thakral, assistant professor of economics and international and public affairs who specializes in housing policy, addressed the administration鈥檚 economic arguments in an email to The Herald. He wrote that rent control policies in other cities have failed to , and have 鈥渢he supply of available rental housing 鈥� (causing) an increase in average rental prices.鈥�
Thakral wrote that policies supported by economists that would take effect quickly include for low-income households, easing Rhode Island鈥檚 and imposing a vacancy tax on .
But for Naty Estrella, rent stabilization can be transformative. 鈥淚 believe that it can significantly help so many families that are either cutting it close or are soon to be evicted for being late or nonpayment,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淚 can get back to having these outdoor outings with my family and save up some money for a rainy day.鈥�
