Historic Taking

Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. This week’s stories include:

• A lawsuit alleging that the city of Los Angeles unconstitutionally landmarked the house Marilyn Monroe died in.
• The U.K. considering rent control to cope with rising costs caused by the U.S.-Iran War.
• Florida easing zoning restrictions on private schools.

The Los Angeles home where Marilyn Monroe died is now the subject of a legal fight between the city, which has declared the home a historic landmark, and the owners, who say the city’s landmarking has effectively taken the property out from under them.

California couple Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank purchased the 2,300-square-foot home and surrounding 23,000-square-foot lot, in 2023.

That same year, they applied for permits from the city allowing them to demolish the as-of-yet nonlandmarked home. Just one day after the city issued those permits, it also initiated the process of turning Milstein and Bank’s property into a “historical-cultural monument.”

The landmarking of the property, which was completed in June 2024, prevented Milstein and Bank from demolishing Monroe’s former home (which is described in their complaint as “dilapidated”) or making significant changes to the rest of their land.

The owners also contend that the city caused numerous disruptions at their property by making it a tourist destination. Sightseeing tours of the dead-end street in front of their property caused traffic jams. Trespassers have become such a common occurrence, as Monroe’s former house is not visible from the street, that the owners have hired security guards.

In January, Milstein and Bank sued the city in federal court. They argue that by landmarking their property, the government has effectively taken it without paying compensation.

The endless trespassing from sightseers amounts to a physical taking of their land, they argue. The owners also claim that the government’s landmarking of the property over 60 years after Monroe’s death, and after taking $30,000 in permitting fees from them, is a regulatory taking as it destroys the economic value of their land and interferes with their investment-backed expectations.

“Not a trace of Ms. Monroe’s short tenure at the house remains at the Property or in the house—and the house has been substantially altered by successive owners over more than sixty years and with multiple building permits issued by the City without any opposition by the City,” reads the complaint. 

Milstein and Bank are demanding either that they be allowed to demolish the affected home or be paid compensation for it.

In April, the Pacific Legal Foundation joined the case to represent the plaintiffs.

Britain’s Labour government is considering using rent control to combat higher consumer prices caused by the U.S.-Iran War. The Guardian reported yesterday that Rachel Reeves, the U.K.’s chancellor of the Exchequer, is considering imposing a yearlong ban on private landlords raising rents.

Discussion of a rent freeze comes right as a new rental housing law that prohibits “no-fault” evictions and fixed-term tenancies is about to go into effect in England. Tenants are also empowered under the new law to challenge rent increases in court.

The U.K.’s treasury department declined to comment on “speculation” about a rent freeze.

Should one be imposed on top of the new rent law, landlords in England would effectively no longer be allowed to decide who they rent to or what they can charge. The fact that a foreign war is pushing up renters’ housing costs won’t change the expected results of such a system.

One could expect the supply of rental housing to fall, as landlords sell off to owner-occupiers and developers build less rental housing. One should expect the quality of housing to deteriorate as well, as remaining landlords reduce investment in their buildings.

Earlier this month, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that gives private schools relief from some zoning restrictions. Senate Bill 182 includes a long list of education policy changes and reforms, from requiring that cursive be taught to mandating that public schools display portraits of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

Included in the bill is a provision that would allow private schools of 150 or fewer students to open in commercial and mixed-use zones without having to get special permits or go through a rezoning process. Under the new state law, they’d need only meet fire safety standards.

Next Steps reports that Jewish educational leaders were a driving force behind the new law, given how difficult local zoning rules have made opening new Jewish schools.

A report from the Teach Coalition, which advocates for Jewish schools, found that getting zoning approval for a new school in Southern Florida typically takes 12–18 months of reviews and hearings and costs over $150,000 in fees. New private schools are often regulated more heavily than public facilities, said the report. Small private schools must also comply with rules, like requirements that classrooms all be on the ground floor, that make it impractical for them to take over existing commercial buildings.

As the Institute for Justice notes, zoning can be a significant headache for “microschool” operations.

Florida isn’t the only state to ease zoning restrictions on new school facilities. In 2024, Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law legislation that lets microschools operate in residential areas.

• Sen. Tom Cotton (R–Ark.) argues in The Washington Post that federal permitting reform is necessary to enable more data centers.
• Meanwhile, another locality piles new rules on the construction of data centers.
• The California Supreme Court limits the state’s powerful Coastal Commission from blocking development that complies with local coastal zoning plans.
• Federal housing authorities have published new regulatory guidance confirming that real estate companies can list information about a neighborhood’s school performance and crime rates without falling afoul of fair housing regulations.
• The federal government is at last winding down a pandemic-era housing voucher program.