Matt Brown

UC Berkeley sophomore Lilly Sayenga is proud she found a rental unit in Berkeley, but said she wishes that for the price of nearly $2,400 a month, her faucet would remain attached to the sink.

Berkeley City Council discussed the adoption of a ballot measure Tuesday that would amend the Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Good Cause Ordinance.

A lot has changed in Berkeley’s housing landscape since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Housing prices have increased, while residents have had to adapt to ongoing policy changes.

About two million California residents were behind on rent payments in August, a UC Berkeley study by campus professor Carolina Reid estimated.

The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board passed two policies Friday that would reduce disincentives for landlords to lower rent and respond to the state emergency.

The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board met virtually Thursday to discuss its 2020-21 fiscal year budget, ongoing Black Lives Matter protests and a possible influx of evictions.

Owner move-in evictions are on the rise in Berkeley, raising concerns about the availability of housing in an increasingly unaffordable market and questions of whether owners are using the eviction method properly.

“I don’t want to own rentals in Berkeley, I don’t want to own an office in Berkeley, and I don’t want to build in Berkeley, ever again,” Winkler said.