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NYC rent board weighs increases up to 7% for stabilized tenants
By
David Brand
Published May 2, 2023
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Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
By
David Brand
Published May 2, 2023
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The panel that sets the rent for New York City’s 1 million stabilized apartments is weighing an increase of 2% to 5% on new one-year leases, with a final, binding decision coming in June. The board is also considering hiking rents on two-year leases anywhere from 4% to 7%.
New York City’s nine-member Rent Guidelines Board voted Tuesday evening on the preliminary rent hike range following a series of reports and hearings on tenant and landlord costs, amid a deepening affordable housing shortage, record-high homelessness and an unequal recovery from the COVID pandemic.
Board Chair Nestor Davidson cautioned that the range was not a final decision and that the panel also considers input from the public at upcoming hearings.
But the board’s final rent decision typically falls within the preliminary range, records show.
Last year, the board raised rents by 3.25% on one-year leases after considering a range of 2% to 4%, the biggest hike in nearly a decade. They raised rents by 5% on two-year leases — right in the middle of the 4% to 6% range they had considered in their preliminary guidelines.
The new rents affect leases signed after Oct. 1 of this year.
In a statement following the vote, Mayor Eric Adams called for an increase below the top level of the ranges. He specifically pinpointed the two-year lease proposal and said a 7% hike “is clearly beyond what renters can afford and what I feel is appropriate this year.”
The annual Rent Guidelines Board process features fevered debates between tenants and property owners attempting to influence the final vote, with the division evident as tenant and landlord reps made their proposals.
The two landlord members on the board proposed increases of 7% to 10% on one-year leases and 11% to 14% hikes on two-year leases, while tenant advocates and at least five city councilmembers marched in a circle around them and drowned them out with chants.
The board’s two tenant reps countered with a proposed rollback of -1% up to a 1% increase on one-year leases and a freeze to 2% increase on two-year leases.
Both proposals were defeated by a vote of 7 to 2.
Activists storm the stage at Tuesday night's Rent Guidelines Board meeting.
Screenshot via RGB
Several local lawmakers — not just those who demonstrated on stage Tuesday — have attempted to influence the board’s decision making.
A group of 27 city councilmembers sent the board a letter Monday recommending they vote to freeze rents. Under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, the board voted three times not to raise rents.
In a joint statement Tuesday, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Housing Committee Chair Pierina Sanchez referenced the surging cost of living and a report compiled by the United Way of New York City that found more than three-quarters of renter households struggle to meet their basic needs.
“We urge the board to account for these economic realities, avoiding proposed increases that are counterproductive to New Yorkers persevering beyond our housing challenges,” Adams and Sanchez said.
But landlord groups countered that the owners need a hefty rent hike to cover rising expenses, like fuel and insurance, fund repairs and keep up with costs associated with city laws, like lead remediation and sustainability measures.
Rent Stabilization Association Membership Director Michael Tobman, whose organization represents landlords and seeks to overturn rent regulation, said the “preliminary range falls short of the rent adjustments needed.”
“With most buildings approaching 100 years old, the city’s rent-stabilized housing stock is on the brink of an insolvency crisis,” he added.
Tagged
new york city
housing
Politics
David Brand
David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.
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