Rent Control on the Peninsula in 2026: Which San Mateo County Cities Have It
If you rent on the Peninsula and you have been wondering whether your apartment is rent controlled, the short answer is probably not, at least not in the way renters in San Francisco or Berkeley mean it. San Mateo County has exactly one city with a local rent cap, and it is East Palo Alto. Everywhere else, from Daly City down through Menlo Park, your rent increases are governed by California's statewide cap, which allows a much larger jump than the 1% to 3% figures you see from the San Francisco and Berkeley rent boards.
That difference is worth real money right now, for two reasons. The statewide ceiling rose sharply this summer, and Redwood City voters decide on a local rent cap on November 3. Here is where things actually stand across the Peninsula, and how to work out which rule covers your unit.
The statewide cap: 8.8% in San Mateo County through July 2027
California's Tenant Protection Act (you will see it called AB 1482, or Civil Code section 1947.12) limits annual rent increases to 5% plus the local change in the cost of living, or 10%, whichever is lower. The cost of living number is recalculated every year, and it is regional.
For increases that take effect between August 1, 2026 and July 31, 2027, the ceiling for San Mateo County is 8.8%. That is a big move: for the twelve months before that, the same cap was 6.3%. On a $3,000 one bedroom, 8.8% is about $264 a month, or roughly $3,170 over a year.
Two other details are easy to miss. Your landlord can split the increase into at most two steps in any twelve month period, but the two together still cannot exceed the annual cap. And after you have lived in a unit for twelve months, the same law requires a "just cause" to end your tenancy, either an at-fault reason like nonpayment or a no-fault reason like the owner moving in.
The units the state cap does not cover
This is where a lot of Peninsula renters discover they have no cap at all. AB 1482 does not cover:
Housing whose certificate of occupancy was issued within the previous 15 years. This is a rolling window, so a 2012 building in San Mateo or Redwood City picks up coverage once it turns 15.
Single family homes and condos owned by individuals rather than by a corporation or a real estate investment trust, as long as the owner gave you the required written notice. If that notice never appeared in your lease, the exemption generally does not apply.
A duplex where the owner lives in the other unit.
Dorms run by schools, and deed-restricted affordable housing, which has its own rules.
Given how much of the Peninsula's rental stock is newer podium construction (the Bay Meadows area of San Mateo, downtown Redwood City, the blocks around the Millbrae transit center) and how many rentals here are single family houses owned by individuals, these exemptions touch a lot of people. The law is set to sunset on January 1, 2030.
East Palo Alto: the county's only local rent cap
East Palo Alto has had rent stabilization since 1988, and it is the only ordinance of its kind in San Mateo County. For the program year running July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, the allowable increase is 2.0%. On a $2,650 one bedroom, which is close to the current median asking rent there, that is about $53 a month rather than the $233 that 8.8% would allow.
Coverage depends on building age. Units that received a certificate of occupancy before January 1, 1988 are covered. Units occupied on or after that date are exempt, as are single family homes on parcels with only one unit and other units exempt under the state's Costa-Hawkins law. Landlords can also "bank" unused increases from prior years, up to three annual adjustments during a tenancy, so a long-tenured renter can occasionally see a larger notice that is still legal.
Practically speaking, coverage is plausible in the older garden-style fourplexes and small apartment buildings off University Avenue, Bay Road and Pulgas Avenue, and almost certainly absent in the newer complexes near the Ravenswood and Four Corners developments.
Redwood City: strong eviction rules now, a rent cap on the ballot
Redwood City does not currently have a local rent cap, so the 8.8% state figure applies to covered units. What it does have, as of January 1, 2026, is a Tenant Protection Ordinance that goes further than state law on evictions and moving costs:
Landlords must offer a minimum one year lease term, which closes the gap that used to let a tenancy end before the twelve month just cause protection kicked in.
Local just cause standards apply to covered units in city limits.
Every tenant displaced by a no-fault eviction is entitled to relocation assistance equal to one month of rent. Households at or below 80% of area median income are entitled to three months of fair market rent, a full security deposit refund, and a 60 day subscription to a rental listing service.
What Measure E would change
On the November 3, 2026 ballot, Redwood City voters decide Measure E, the Redwood City Fair and Affordable Housing Ordinance. It was placed on the ballot by Faith in Action Bay Area, which gathered more than 7,500 signatures against a 4,500 signature requirement. The Redwood City Council formally opposed the measure in August 2026, and the San Mateo County Association of Realtors and the California Apartment Association are campaigning against it.
If it passes, Measure E would cap annual rent increases at 5% or 60% of the change in the consumer price index, whichever is lower. It would apply to buildings constructed before 1995, with single family homes, condos and anything built in 1995 or later exempt (that 1995 line comes from Costa-Hawkins, which limits what any California city can do). It would also require relocation payments for no-fault evictions and create a rent stabilization and tenant protection program paid for by an annual per-unit fee on landlords.
Supporters argue it would stabilize costs for renters in older buildings in a city where one bedrooms run roughly $3,000 to $3,450. Opponents argue the per-unit fee and the cap would discourage maintenance and new rental supply. Either way, the practical point for anyone signing a Redwood City lease this fall is that your building's construction year may set your increases starting next year.
San Mateo: just cause starts at 11 months
The City of San Mateo adopted a Residential Tenant Protection Program (Chapter 10.100 of the municipal code) on December 1, 2025. There is no local rent cap, so 8.8% still applies to covered units, but two provisions help:
No-fault just cause protections reach tenants who have lived in a unit 11 months or longer, rather than the twelve months state law requires.
If you are evicted so the owner can substantially remodel, the owner must notify you when the unit comes back on the rental market.
Landlords were required to deliver written notice of these rights to tenants by February 1, 2026 and to include the language in leases. If you rent in San Mateo and never saw it, ask.
Everywhere else on the Peninsula: state law only
Daly City, South San Francisco, Brisbane, San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Foster City, Belmont, San Carlos, Menlo Park, Pacifica and Half Moon Bay have no local rent cap. Your increase ceiling is the 8.8% state figure if your unit is covered, and nothing at all if it falls into one of the exemptions above.
That is a meaningful part of why the cheaper end of the Peninsula is cheaper on paper and less predictable in practice. Daly City one bedrooms run roughly $2,450 to $2,675 and are a popular landing spot for people commuting into San Francisco on BART from Daly City or Colma station, but a legal 8.8% increase there is about $215 a month. Countywide, the median asking rent across all unit types sits near $3,370.
How to tell which rule covers your apartment
Confirm the city. An address in an unincorporated pocket of San Mateo County follows county rules, not the rules of the nearest city, and the Peninsula has a lot of those pockets near Redwood City and San Mateo.
Find the building's first certificate of occupancy date and the number of units on the parcel. Both drive almost every rule here. The county assessor's records and the city building department can give you the year.
Apply any local cap first. East Palo Alto's 2.0% beats the state's 8.8% for covered units, and a local cap wins when it is lower.
If there is no local cap, check the state exemptions. More than 15 years old, more than one unit on the parcel, corporate or institutional owner: you are probably covered by AB 1482.
Call the city. East Palo Alto's Rent Stabilization Program, Redwood City housing services and the City of San Mateo all answer coverage questions, and Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County counsels tenants for free. Bring your lease and your increase notice.
Using this while you search
Building age is one of the few things you can check before you sign that meaningfully changes what your rent looks like in year two and year three, and on the Peninsula it is also one of the least visible details on a listing. Comparing a 2019 building in Redwood City against a 1974 fourplex two miles away, the older unit may come with a cap the newer one will not have for another decade, which can outweigh a $150 difference in asking rent.
On Iris you can search Peninsula rentals in plain language, including what is actually available in a given city, at a given price, near a given Caltrain or BART stop. Then use the steps above to confirm the rent rules before your application goes in.
This is general information for renters, not legal advice. Rent caps change annually and some are recalculated more often. Confirm current figures with your city's housing or rent program before you act on them.