Rent Control Rigidity: Legacy Laws Continue to Depress Landlord Returns in Delhi

The continued operation of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 imposes structural constraints on rental realisation by freezing or tightly regulating standard rent and severely limiting eviction rights, with statutory caps on periodic rent enhancement and tenant-protective provisions resulting in disproportionately low yields for legacy tenancies, thereby creating a persistent distortion in the landlord–tenant equilibrium, discouraging fresh rental supply, and underscoring the need for legislative transition toward a market-aligned tenancy framework capable of reconciling tenant protection with economically viable property utilisation.