All of the arguments I have heard for rent control act like the vast majority of us who live in non-rent controlled areas are going through a Boschian nightmare hellhole of landlords jacking up our rents, driving us out of our ancestral homes, and sticking pitchforks in our collective asses.
It's not relevant for less crowded areas but friends who live in NYC (or SF, without rent control) often see 20%+ increases amounting to at least a few hundred dollars per month. That's pretty rough after you found a place to live and spent a year setting it up.
Sure, but whether a city has rent control wasn't relevant to my comment, which is why I mentioned San Francisco as well. I was saying that landlords in popular areas whose properties are not subject to rent control (whether or not the surrounding area predominantly has rent control) will naturally act in their own self-interest and raise prices quickly. If the tenant improves the property during their lease, then the landlord will immediately be able to charge more for it which is another perverse incentive.
Here is an excerpt from an article that discusses rent control in Singapore & Hong Kong, among other places:
"Rent controls [in Hong Kong] were renewed in 1973, to halt increases exceeding 90% of prevailing market rates or hikes above 30%, for two years"
They actually had to add rent control there because the landlords acted exactly as you described.
<checks cranium> nope, no screw-vices here.