Doesn't matter, Marcus – like one semi-famous economist said, it comes down to the "seen" and the "unseen".

Things that never came into existence due to bad policy tend to go unnoticed. There's no organized political constituency going to bat for 22,500 rental units that were never built because of rent controls. Therefore the proposed set of solutions tends to favour visible changes at the expense of less visible ones.

The best way to help renters is to reduce landlords' price-making power, which is only conferred to them by tight markets. Landlords don't find excuses to evict paying tenants with phony apartment "upgrades" if there's unlikely to be takers at the higher price.

Landlords can't obtain deposits from multiple applicants, or demand cash under the table, if there's no waiting list of 50 desperate would-be renters willing to go along with these demands. Landlords can sometimes evade regulations, but they can't evade the market. Too bad politicians don't get this.