I genuinely can not understand how anyone with basic knowledge of economics could believe that government intervention is not responsible for the majority of rent price increases

The market, left to its own, will keep building because someone will see the prices people are willing to pay and think “I want in on that” but then the government comes in and blocks them from building. No building = supply lower than demand which always equals higher costs

Further, It would only have taken you one 5 second search to see the ways government regulations can cause unoccupied apartments

https://www.google.com/search?q=in+what+ways+can+government+...

That's because you inserted the word "all" which was quite absent from what I wrote.

Please try again.

P.S. google "how many unoccupied apartments in nyc"

> all unoccupied apartments in a market

Which market are you thinking of?