When new owners took over Kathy Layden’s apartment building in Redwood City in 2018, she wasn’t completely taken off guard when they increased rents. But, then, eight months later, the landlord sent her another letter for a rent hike.

In the years that followed, she saw annual rent increases between 5% and 7% for her two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment on Hudson Street. Layden dipped into her 401(k). She started using credit cards more often. She got a roommate.

“It was frustrating, but I started to expect it and did my best to make it work,” she said in a phone call with SFGATE. “I wasn’t getting the kind of salary increase that would make up for that.”

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She acknowledges that she pays less than it would cost for comparable housing in the area — a little under $3,000 per month. The citywide median rent cost reached an all-time high of $3,548 in June 2026, according to Apartment List, a rental platform. Zumper, another platform that tracks data differently, shows a similar figure: $3,409 per month. The year-over-year increases are even more extreme in other Bay Area cities like San Francisco (23%) and Mountain View (16%). 

Redwood City voters will decide on a rent control measure this November as renters push for relief. 

Movement for rent control and eviction protections

Layden is tired of worrying about whether she can make ends meet. That’s why she and other renters in the Peninsula city of about 82,000 jumped at the chance to join a movement for citywide rent control and eviction protections. Faith in Action — a nonprofit advocacy group that focuses on social justice, housing equity and immigration rights — launched Affordable Redwood City in 2021 to help those struggling with the impacts of arbitrary evictions, rising rents, increased corporate ownership and substandard living conditions. In June, Layden and Faith in Action collected enough signatures for a rent control measure to qualify for the ballot.

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On July 7, the City Council voted to place the proposed ordinance on the November ballot. Its only other option was to approve it as is. The measure would cap rent increases to 5% annually, or 60% of the inflation rate based on the Consumer Price Index — whichever is less. However, it would only affect properties built prior to........

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