Chelsea Kirk is the Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Climate and the Built Environment team at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy

September 11, 2025

Analysis

Loosening the Markets

Los Angeles housing in the age of incentive-driven development

Rather than new housing driving down market rents, development in the “affordable housing” market replaces below-market units with market-rate rentals. With market rents unchanged, “filtering” tenants by price most reliably excludes them from the city altogether.