[Bartweiss]

That depends almost entirely on what kind of rent control gets implemented.

If you only ever rent control 100 units, then yeah, it should only affect the owners of those units. You might have some other problems with it, it incentivizes slumlording, but it shouldn't be a systematic disincentive to build housing.

But that also only helps 100 people. If you expand rent control onto more existing properties or mandate that new units be built under rent control (or even just have credible candidates talking about doing that), it's a disincentive to anyone looking at offering rental properties - especially cheap rental properties, which are much more likely to become a net loss as prices rise.