I don't understand this. The owners have pay mortgage, taxes, insurance, and repairs. How can it be decoupled? The landlords I know would have to sell if they lost their renters, or if the rental income fell below a certain amount.
If the market cost of renting a unit drops below the landlords' cost to maintain the unit, the renter doesn't go "oh well, that's a shame, I guess I will pay the higher amount."
The landlord either eats the loss or gets out of the game. Since vacancy is the worst possible outcome for a landlord, they can't just hold their units off the market to get the price they want.
