We Are San Francisco

Researcher Mapped San Francisco Rent Control Units

A new project analyzed 463,000 public records to estimate the city's inventory of protected housing.

Updated on Sept. 27, 2026 in Apartments

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A new research project uses public data to estimate and map the inventory of rent-controlled housing units across San Francisco. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Renters and housing advocates now have a new way to visualize rent control coverage in San Francisco. A researcher created a comprehensive map using public data that the city itself does not officially track.

Why it matters

Understanding which units fall under local rent protections is a central challenge for tenants navigating the city's housing market. The map offers clarity on the scale of these protections, which have been shaped by decades of city and state policies.

Researcher Neil Rao analyzed 463,000 records to identify 174,000 rent-controlled units, surpassing the Planning Department's estimate of 166,000 units. The exact total remains difficult to verify because the city does not maintain an official, comprehensive inventory.

The players

Neil Rao

A researcher who compiled and mapped public rent control records after volunteering with housing-insecure people in Berkeley.

San Francisco Rent Board

The local agency that maintains the public filings and disclosures used to create the new housing map.

The details

Using the AI tool Claude to geocode thousands of tenant disclosures and move-out notices, Neil Rao built a tool to visualize where rent control protections exist. San Francisco’s rent ordinance caps annual increases at 1.6% for protected units occupied before June 1979, while post-1979 buildings generally fall under a 2019 state law capping increases at 5% plus inflation. Rao plans to continue his research to see if higher activity at the Rent Board correlates with a higher density of rent-protected housing.

Timeline

  1. June 1979 was the cutoff date for the city's original rent control ordinance.

  2. The Ellis Act was passed in 1985.

  3. State rent control laws were updated in 2019.

  4. Neil Rao completed his analysis of rent control records in summer 2026.

Across the Bay

This project provides a new visual reference for the reach of the 1979 San Francisco Rent Ordinance, which has defined tenant protections for decades. It follows a trend of independent data collection in the Bay Area to fill gaps where official municipal records are incomplete.

If you are a tenant, the rent control status of your building is determined by whether it was certified for occupation before June 1979. You can now use the new map to cross-reference your address with historical records to better understand your specific protections.

The takeaway

Understanding your building's history is the best way to verify if your rent increases comply with city or state caps. Keep a close watch on your annual rent disclosure notices to ensure they align with the 1.6% cap for older units or the 5% state-level threshold.

Further reading

For more information on local housing laws, visit the San Francisco Apartments section.

Source note: This article includes information reported by The San Francisco Standard.

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Should your local government maintain a publicly accessible database of all rent-controlled housing units?