The imposition of rent-control to regulate rapidly rising rents has met with a great deal of controversy. Proponents argue that rent is an inflexible cost. As such, if rents increase substantially, especially over the short term, the tenant must either pay the increase or move. If housing shortages exist, the tenant has no alternative but to pay the higher rent. Families are forced to restructure their budgetary priorities, thereby postponing the purchase of anything but essential consumer goods and services. Family diets and appropriate medical care may be adversely affected. Because of the strong social approval associated with adequate housing, the government has from time to time attempted to regulate its cost through rent control. The economy is presently characterized by deep-seated and chronic problems. One consequence of this economic hardship is that fewer and fewer families are able to afford home ownership. Accordingly renting is no longer considered a short-term, temporary housing situation. Under these circumstances, proponents of rent regulation contend that rent ceilings are required as a means of long-term financial relief in the face of this economic burden. Of course, this rationale must be reconciled with the fact that rent control has traditionally been imposed as a short-term measure in response to an emergency housing shortage. Although rent-control controversy has primarily focused on opposition between tenants and landlords, other conflicts have arisen that deserve consideration. If it can be demonstrated that rent control tends to reduce apartment construction, it becomes a conflict between present renters and future renters. To the extent that rent control encourages the conversion of apartments to condominiums, it also represents a conflict between renters and potential home buyers. The purpose of almost all rent-control ordinances is to protect tenants from inordinate rent increases in a time of a limited rental housing stock. If the rent control community has little available land for further development, a rent control ordinance with moderate features can be justified on a long-term basis.