San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Tuesday she will sign legislation to expand rent control to thousands of additional units — but only if voters pass the statewide ballot measure Proposition 33.
At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, members unanimously passed the rent control bill, authored by President Aaron Peskin, on its second reading. The bill would extend protection from rent increases to cover all residential buildings built before 1994, rather than the current cutoff of 1979. The move will make about 16,000 additional units eligible for rent control.
Breed, who’s seen as a strong YIMBY ally, said in a statement that she supports rent control laws, as long as they’re implemented in a way that does not discourage housing production.
“As a lifelong renter, I know the importance rent control plays in keeping people stably housed in our city,” the mayor said in a statement. “I believe this legislation strikes that balance.”
However, the law will take effect only if California voters pass Proposition 33 in November. The proposition aims to repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which sets limits on how cities can enact rent control.
Polls show that many voters are undecided on Prop. 33. Previous efforts to gut Costa-Hawkins through the state ballot failed.
Peskin initially sought a massive rent control expansion to cover all buildings built before 2024. Critics, including housing activists, developers, and unions, argued that a drastic expansion of rent control would make it financially impossible to build housing in the city. The Board of Supervisors later amended the legislation to cover only buildings that are at least 30 years old.
Jane Natoli, the San Francisco organizing director at YIMBY Action, said the group is happy the board took its feedback and amended the legislation.
“This new approach will be more compatible with growing San Francisco’s housing supply,” Natoli said.
Breed said the amended rent control proposal is consistent with the Housing Element plan, a goal set by the state to build more than 80,000 housing units in San Francisco over the next decade. The plan will rezone the city to encourage more housing but also calls for stronger tenant protections for buildings at least 25 years old.