Financial Repression Tracker

Rules that steer savings into government debt or hold returns below inflation, country by country.

Block · Real asset restrictions

Rent freezes and fixed base-date rents

What it is
Freeze existing rents or set maximum rents by reference to a past date, allowing only specified adjustments. Emergency wartime controls and temporary cost-of-living freezes are variants.
Why it counts
Suppressing nominal rental income reduces property's ability to protect savers against inflation and can make regulated financial savings relatively more attractive.

When it was in force

  • United States: 1942 → 1944, historical; its end is not documented
  • United Kingdom: 2022 → 2023, historical; its end is not documented

2 examples

  1. United States

    1942 → 1944Historical

    Its end is not documented · As cited: 1942-1944 cited legislation

    The Administrator could establish maximum rents in defense-rental areas using a historical rent reference and permitted adjustments.

    Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, section 2(b), as amended through 1944Primary source
    “may by regulation or order establish such maximum rent or maximum rents for such accommodations”

    govinfo.gov (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

    United States today: index 42.9

  2. United Kingdom

    2022 → 2023Historical

    Its end is not documented · As cited: September 2022-March 2023 zero-cap phase in Scotland

    The initial zero-percent cap froze most in-tenancy rents, with safeguards and exceptions.

    Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022, schedule 1Primary source
    “with the cap set at 0% from 6 September 2022 until at least 31 March 2023, effectively freezing rents”

    gov.scot (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

    United Kingdom today: index 44.4

Examples and their dates reviewed .