A housing expert says we need to investigate rent controls in order to help housing market affordability.

Rent controls limit the amount a landlord can charge for a property.

New research shows rents rose 4.8 percent over the last year and affordability declined across the country.

Massey University Professor Graham Squire told Heather du Plessis-Allan rent controls would be politically unpopular.

“Certainly not palatable to landlords, of course. That’s why we need to see what it would look like in terms of the implications of putting certain rent controls at different price points.”

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