There are websites to check similar rents in your area like rentometer.com

In general, rents should be set by the market. Rent control makes housing less affordable because is discourages investment and construction.

Any two adults can negotiate and search for better prices for them until there is an agreement. If a landlord asks too much, their unit will sit empty until they drop the price.

As a landlord, I cannot charge however much I want. I have to respond to the market, or tenants will just go somewhere else. It would be like saying Walmart cannot increase the price of napkins without discussing first with the government, when if you find Walmart is charging twice as much for napkins as Target, you will just go to Target.