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Twin Cities Rent Control Experiment Delivers Uneven Results
Globe Street
January 6, 2026
It was never meant to be an experiment in housing. But when Minneapolis and St. Paul took separate paths to fix their rental markets, the Twin Cities became a study in how two policies can shape the same region in opposite ways.
As The Wall Street Journal reported, St. Paul enacted one of the nation’s strictest rent control ordinances, capping annual increases at 3% even if an apartment sat vacant. With no adjustment for inflation, steady price growth of roughly the same amount effectively wiped out any real gains for landlords.
The policy came with swift consequences. Between 2021 and 2022, apartment building permits in St. Paul plunged 79%. Lenders and developers grew wary, casting doubt on the feasibility of future projects, while multifamily investment “nearly froze,” according to the Journal. Property values slipped by at least 6%, amplifying the market stresses that lingered after the pandemic.
Across the river, Minneapolis charted a different course. By encouraging new construction, the city’s housing permits jumped nearly 300% over the same period. Average rents rose just 0.7% to $1,506, according to CoStar data cited by the Journal. And while only two apartment deals of at least 100 units closed in St. Paul, CBRE figures showed “dozens” in Minneapolis.
Yet the development boom brought its own problems. Much of the new supply targeted higher-income renters, leaving many residents priced out. One of them, 31-year-old Klyde Warren, told the Journal that half his monthly income from disability checks goes toward rent.
For landlords like Alisa Lein in St. Paul, meanwhile, the cap has narrowed options. She once raised rents more substantially only when apartments turned over, but now limits increases to 3% each year. “Even though I’d love to give someone who’s been in the apartment for 20 years a bit of a break, I can’t anymore,” Lein told the Journal. Some owners, she added, are selling and leaving the market altogether.
While each city wrestled with its own version of the affordability crisis, the results have grown similarly grim. Eviction filings between December 2024 and November 2025 rose 68% in Minneapolis and 61% in St. Paul. Whether by tightening rent controls or loosening development rules, neither city has yet found the balance between building enough housing and keeping it within reach.
Author: Erik Sherman
Source: https://www.globest.com/2025/12/16/twin-cities-rent-control-experiment-delivers-uneven-results/