Municipal imposition of rent controls, designed to hold

Municipal imposition of rent controls, designed to hold rents down during periods of housing shortages, can protect tenants from paying inordinate amounts of rent for decent housing. But in an era of rapid inflation, high costs for fuel and maintenance can pose severe financial strains on landlords with fixed rent rolls. During such periods of economic hardship most landlords chose to defer all but the most vital building repairs before eliminating their own profit margin.

Which of the following offers the most appropriate conclusion to the author's argument?

A) Decent housing is thus a relative concept, determined by individuals chosing among options circumscribed by economic and technological factors in a society.

B) Landlords, who are generally opposed to rent control because it inhibits their ability to make a profit, should therefore defer maintenance in order to draw attention to what they deem unfair municipal regulations.

C) The construction of new housing would be a far more effective solution to shortages in available of housing than the imposition of rent controls.

D) Clearly, no solution in the struggle over higher or lower rents will please both landlord and tenant, and it is time that landlords adjust their concept of adequate profit margins.

E) Rent control, which is intended to sustain fair market rents when decent housing is hard to find, can thus have the effect of actually lowering the quality of city housing.