The Santa Barbara City Council will consider a temporary rent increase freeze Tuesday that would be in effect while the city works on a rental stabilization ordinance.
The proposed freeze would prevent landlords from raising the base rent of a unit until Dec. 31 or when the permanent rent stabilization ordinance goes into effect, whichever is earlier, according to the city staff report.
The temporary ordinance defines base rent as the cost of rent that was in effect Dec. 16, 2025, for tenancies that started on or before that date, or whatever the cost of rent was during initial start of a lease that began after Dec. 16…