As Housing Affordability Diminishes, Renters Are Fighting Back

For two years, rental costs have jumped to new highs, and as inflation now chips away at affordability for everyday goods and spiking mortgage rates push prospective buyers into an already crowded pool of competing renters, additional price hikes are being met with resistance nationwide. Tenants’ rights activism is sparking a rent revolution in which residents of some pricey metros are protesting and lobbying to push for new tenant-friendly laws, but despite some effective changes, most concerns are falling on deaf ears, according to The New York Times.

Rent is still rising at a record clip in metros like Kansas City, where high-end condos and apartments are on the rise while low-income housing is dwindling, and Missouri isn’t the only state where a housing affordability crisis is forcing renters to fight back.

KC Tenants is one result. Pairing aggressive protests with traditional lobbying, the group exploded onto the political scene during the pandemic and has since become instrumental in passing tenant-friendly laws like an ordinance that gives renters a lawyer during eviction proceedings. It has also left a trail of embittered opponents who find the group’s tactics, such as protesting outside judges’ homes, ill-suited to what many residents describe as a cordial Midwestern town.

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