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Q&A: California's Housing Crisis, Failed Policies and Obtainable Solutions Has housing become unattainable for many Californians? According to analysts, government imposed regulations and fees are leading contributors to why California is the most expensive place to live in the U.S. An average California home ($440,000) costs two -and -half times the average national home price ($180,000), and the average monthly rent is $1,240, 50% higher than the rest of the country. This is not news for those who see a big portion of their paycheck going to housing each month. Are political leaders addressing the real problem? Instead of addressing the root cause of the housing crisis, needless and costly regulations and fees, some policymakers are championing rent control, despite the fact that it has never effectively preserved or expanded affordable housing stocks. One of their favorite targets is manufactured housing communities or mobilehome parks, as if private property owners are responsible for the housing crisis. When manufactured homes offer all the quality and comfort of a stick -built house, at prices 30% less, a compelling case can be made that they are part of the solution and not the problem. Does rent control work? The view of nearly every economist and housing expert is that rent control has never led to more affordable housing stock. In reality, it discourages builders from building more apartments and mobilehome parks, and in fact, it has incentivized property owners to leave the rental market. If rent control was effective, California would not be facing a housing crisis and rent control communities would have the lowest rents, when in fact, they have the highest - and sometimes, the highest in the state or nation. Does rent control improve a mobilehome park's services and quality of life? The application of rent control poses many challenges (i.e. unintended consequences) when applied to manufactured home communities, creating a tradeoff between lower rents and the capital investments parkowners must make to protect a park's viability, quality of life and the value of the privately -owned homes located in the community. Why is rent control particularly problematic for mobilehome parks? To understand how it has truly failed, one must also understand how parks operate. Unlike traditional rental property such as apartments, mobilehome parks operate like small villages or cities. They provide all the benefits of a traditional neighborhood (i.e. security, social interaction, open space, and close proximity to needed goods and services) and they appeal to all income Ievels.The only real difference is the park's residents own the manufactured home, and the parkowner generally owns the land beneath it.