Causes, Challenges & Solutions to High Rent Rates in Washington DC

This report examines the high rent rates in Washington, DC, exploring the underlying causes such as job opportunities, attractive apartments, and security. It addresses the challenges faced by tenants and facility providers due to increasing rent, including affordability issues and government regulations. The report also proposes solutions like rethinking planning, zoning, and application processes, emphasizing the need for coordination between political and economic groups. It concludes by highlighting the importance of government policy review and collaboration with local leaders to mitigate the challenges and make housing more affordable.

Running head: HIGH RENT IN WASHINGTON DC
High Rent Rate in Washington DC
Sipho Mavuso
Colorado State University-Global Campus
Jill Hawkims, Ph.D.
May 28, 2018

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Introduction
The apartment rents across the country have been rising at the fastest pace in the past two
years. Contrary to other cities, it is reported that the rent in the Washington area has been rising
gradually. The Washington market is flooded with several options for the apartment target
market that put a ceiling on the extent to which the rents can rise. The calculation shows that the
median rent has risen to 2.8 percent in last year (Landis, 2010). It can be interpreted that the high
demand of the rental houses in Washington DC is one of the probable reasons for such high rent
rates. Currently, Washington DC is one of the most expensive places to live in all other cities in
the United States. Based on this argument; this report focuses on identifying the main causes of
such high rents in Washington. The report also highlights the probable solutions in terms of
dealing with such high rent rates in the city. A complete understanding of the opportunistic
scenario as well as the challenges which will strengthen the knowledgeable aspect of the subject
area.
Reasons for High Rent Rates in Washington DC
Washington DC has become one of the most expensive places to live in across the United
States. Numerous factors are contributing to the rise of rent rates of apartments in this city. Fields
and Uffer (2016) explained that the city offers a variety of apartments that are quite attractive to
the sophisticated individuals in America. Moreover, it has been observed that the numerous job
opportunities in the City are striving opportunities for developing urbanized lifestyle. Supporting
this statement, Collinson, (2011) mentioned that the high demand for the houses in the
Washington DC surrounding results to a consequent increase in rental prices in this area. This
perception can be explained by mentioning the law of supply and demand that that determines

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the price of the commodity. Favilukis, Ludvigson and Van Nieuwerburgh (2017) argued that the
larger supply of the goods or service does not ensure much demand and as a result, the prices
tend to fall. In many of the cases, the facility providers strive to resolve the problem by
increasing the rates of the rent. By doing so, the property owners set price and the lock the key
determines the price in the market which is supply and demand.
The idea received from the article, Rethinking Federal Housing Policy, indicates that the
repeated changing living standards and economic status of American citizens have been creating
the considerable impact on the day to day activities. This impact is leading towards high renting
rates, especially in Washington DC. Katharine (2013) presented a contradictory view on this
statement by stating that the government policies on the house rents ought to be regulated to
reach to the economic level that is in line with the high living standards of the American citizens.
The article also depicts that the individuals have been facing considerable challenges due to
increasing rent (Walter, Evans & Atherwood, 2016). It is also stated that Washington offers
good quality houses that require incorporation of customers of high personality. Nevertheless, it
is essential to pay attention towards the available materials for building components. Mishel,
Bernstein & Schmitt (2016) presented a contradictory view in such context. It is said that the
quality standards should be increased in terms of ensuring the safety of the tenants.
Another probable reason for increasing rent rates in Washington DC is due to adequate
security. The place is quite secure from terrorist and others such as robbery, burglary, and
thievery related crimes. The reports show that due to numerous Police stations and security
systems available in this area, the place is considered as the most secure. The sufficient security
has been attracting many tenants, and likewise, rent prices increase considerably due to the high
demand of the houses. Kneebone and Nadeau (2015), opined that Washington DC is endowed

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with good infrastructure. Ideally, people will prefer to live in an area which is convenient for
them to travel to their places of work. Moreover, as reported by Howenstine (2017),
communication means in Washington DC have been voted as the best and fastest in the country,
and as a result, people have been attracted to live in the areas as supported by (Npr.org, 2014).
Challenges Faced Due to the High Rent Rates in Washington DC
The increasing rent rates in Washington DC have been accompanied by considerable
challenges. Fields and Uffer (2016) observed that the increasing rate of the housing rents was
becoming unaffordable to the tenants. For example, it as challenge for the tenant to raise high
rent fees. As result people have been forced to switch from Washington premises to affordable
apartments. The inability to retain clients has had negative impacts on the facility providers since
they might not make much profit. The government policies and regulations have also been
notable reasons for the continuous increasing housing rent rates in this area (Walter, Evans &
Atherwood, 2016). This has made it hard for the facility owners to set prices that is affordable to
their target market and at the same time operate at a profit. For example, the escalated rent prices
exclude average people from living in Washington. The government implies that it is necessary
to keep the prices higher due to the extra securities provided to the people who are purchasing
houses in these areas. In such cases, people from middle and low income group cannot afford
such high security, an indication of a huge challenge.
Sturtevant (2012) implied that government rules and regulations hinder the exploration of
the innovative opportunities in the area. Instead, the entrepreneurs have opted to venture their
business in different locations. This consequence has seen the decline of housing facilities in the
Washington DC. Desmond (2018) contradicted this view by arguing that the investors often seek

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the good returns on their ventures due to which they need to set their premises in location, which
is highly valued by the customers. Therefore, they are more likely to purchase the houses in this
area. In another article, the issue is divided into two aspects. First, it is stated that the houses are
rented in this area for the economic benefits. The rented house can be transformed into offices
for encouraging the economic activities in the area. Hertog (2016) mentioned that the benefits
derived from the better infrastructure create the economic advantages to the people. On the other
hand, the people who are economically thwarted may face significant challenges in renting the
house or introducing any business (Walter, Evans & Atherwood, 2016). It is noticeable that a
high number of poor people have been living in the streets of New York and Washington DC. It
is sometimes attributed to low economic standard. Hence, the issues with the unaffordable prices
persist in case of economically backward people in terms of renting the house in Washington
DC.
Solutions for such high rent rate in Washington DC
The analysis of the challenges associable with rent prices in Washington DC reflects that
the region is becoming the victim of its success. It is true that the strong and steady economic
growth in this region creates the high demand for housing for the entrepreneurs. However, the
repeatedly increasing rent prices are creating the significant challenges with income spectrum. In
addition, the difficult regulatory environment at the state, local, and Federal levels are creating
the negative impact due to the emergence of fear is growing and changing the current residence.
In order to mitigate the challenges, it is important to rethink the planning, zoning and application
process. There is a need to create a master plan to ensure the development of the neighborhood
by allowing higher density, mixed uses, and transit infrastructure. Desmond (2018) suggested

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that the local government requires reviewing and revising the ordinances associated with the
zone for providing more flexibility in terms of structuring the housing prices in this region.
Kneebone and Nadeau (2015) stated that there should be coordination of both the existing
political and economic fragmentation groups in the region. The coordination from the region will
help to lower rental prices and maintain high living standards in these Metro areas. The
cooperation will encompass all groups from the different levels of economic zone and ensure
setting of prices that the target market can afford. The collaboration of local governments,
businesses, and affordable housing advocates will be much helpful in mitigating the challenges
and make the houses affordable for the ordinary people. Besides, the local leaders need to
discuss the regional issues with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government to keep the
policy concerns transparent to the public. These implications would be much help in terms of
resolving the high house pricing issue in Washington DC.
Conclusion
The study observes the issues with the increasing rent rate in Washington DC. The
analysis of the various articles highlights that the growing opportunities, transport facilities,
greater infrastructure, and high-level securities as the major reasons for increasing prices of the
housing in this region. Also, the government is inclined towards developing more securities for
the people, and as a result, it has pushed the house prices higher. The place is quite secure from
terrorist and other dangers like burglary, robbery, and thievery. It is also reported that due to
numerous Police stations and security systems available in this area, the place is considered as
the most secure in the region. The government implies that it is necessary to keep the prices
higher due to the extra securities provided to the people who are purchasing houses in these

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areas. However, the high rental prices have unaffordable by the middle-income group.
Additionally, the entrepreneurs have shifted their investment preferences to other locations.
Therefore, it is recommended that the government should review the policy and make the
flexible approach to engage different buyers from diverse economic backgrounds. The
collaboration of the local leaders with the government will also be helpful in mitigating the
challenges much preferably.

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References
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Desmond, M. (2018). Heavy is the house: rent burden among the American urban
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rent-is-too-damn-high Accessed 27 May 2018.

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Sturtevant, L. (2012). How do we solve the housing affordability crisis? Available from
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