Oregon lawmakers last week previewed some of their ideas build more housing and lower rents and home prices for Oregonians struggling with high housing costs.

During committee hearings at the state Capitol on Tuesday and Wednesday, lawmakers debated proposals to cap rent increases for mobile home parks, build more apartments and crack down on landlords who put down deposits. All aim to ease the pressures that lead to more than half of all renters and a third of homeowners spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs, according to a recent report from Oregon Housing and Community Services.

Here’s a look at some of the housing bills lawmakers plan to introduce next year:

Rent control for mobile home parks

Current state law limits annual rent increases for buildings older than 15 years to no more than 10% or 7% plus inflation, whichever is lower. Rope. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland and chairwoman of the House Housing and Homelessness Committee, plans to introduce a bill to further limit rent increases in manufactured home parks and marinas.

Oregon has 1,328 manufactured home parks with more than 72,000 spaces, according to Lane County legal aid attorney and Oregon State Tenants Association vice president John VanLandingham. Most people who live in these parks own their homes but rent the land. The 25 or so marinas in the state that have floating housing operate similarly — people rent boat slips, enjoy parking on the water and live in houseboats.

“Our focus is squarely on rent increases, because that’s the issue that scares the pants off all manufactured home park tenants across the state,” VanLandingham said.

Marsh’s proposal would limit rent increases on manufactured home parks and marinas to no more than the rate of inflation. That, VanLandingham said, would bring potential rent increases more in line with cost-of-living increases manufactured by homeowners on fixed incomes from Social Security. Many manufactured home owners are seniors or farm workers.

Easier path to building apartments

Unlike traditional single-family homes, condominiums allow people to purchase an individual unit in a building. They are typically less expensive than other types of homes: The median cost of an apartment in Oregon was $341,000 in 2023, compared to the median price of $552,460 for a single-family home.

But apartment construction has plummeted from a peak of about 4,200 new units in 2006 to just 309 last year — a 92% drop.

“We’re not building condos in Oregon anymore, and we haven’t for years,” said Sen. Mark Meek, a Gladstone Democrat and real estate agent.

He attributed that decline largely to restrictive state laws that give property owners more time to file complaints or lawsuits against construction companies than they have in other states. A 2018 report from ECONorthwest found that Oregon’s 10-year deadline for property owners to file construction defect claims was higher than other West Coast states. Between the risk of lawsuits and rising apartment rents, developers and lenders have seen regular apartment buildings as a safer and more profitable alternative to apartments.

Meek’s proposed bill would reduce that limit from 10 years to six years and require more robust inspections of apartment exteriors, which he said would reduce the risk of defects. He said the proposal, backed by developers and Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, the Republican vice chair of the House Housing and Homelessness Committee, was the kind of bold but practical solution the state’s housing crisis called for.

Cut down on “hold deposits”

Many landlords charge “holding” deposits, usually at least several hundred dollars and sometimes as high as one month’s rent, from prospective tenants to secure an apartment while they work out lease details and a move-in date. If a tenant moves in, that deposit is usually credited toward their first month’s rent, security deposit, or other move-in costs—but if a tenant can’t move in, they often lose that money.

Rep. Annessa Hartman, D-Gladstone, plans to introduce a bill to limit landlords’ ability to keep those deposits. Hartman’s measure would require landlords to immediately return the security deposit and pay a penalty equal to the amount when they fail to provide a rental agreement, such as by overbooking a rental unit or attempting to rent a unit that does not meet state habitability standards.

Air conditioning apartments

After changing state law two years ago to require landlords to allow tenants to use air conditioning units, lawmakers are looking at requiring indoor cooling in all apartments with 10 or more units.

The Senate Housing and Development Committee will introduce a bill that would require landlords to provide central air, portable air conditioners or other passive cooling to keep each bedroom at a temperature 15 degrees below the outside temperature and no higher than 80 degrees. Otherwise, landlords would be required to provide tenants with access to a common refrigeration space on or near the apartment premises that maintains a temperature below 80 degrees.

Oregon and other states have long required landlords to provide heating in rental properties so that tenants can maintain a minimum indoor temperature of 68 degrees. Debates about landlord liability for air conditioners have gained momentum in recent years as Oregon experiences more extreme heat linked to climate change. About 100 Oregonians died in a heat dome event in 2021, and Salem, Eugene and Hillsboro hit record high temperatures in a July heat wave.

— Julia Shumway, Oregon Capital Chronicle

The Oregon Capital Chroniclefounded in 2021, is a nonprofit news organization focusing on Oregon state government, politics and policy.