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Skip to content Sections SEARCH New York SUBSCRIBE FOR $1/WEEKLog in Wednesday, June 21, 2023 Today’s Paper SUBSCRIBE FOR $1/WEEK New York|Rents for 2 Million New Yorkers to Rise Again This Year https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/nyregion/rent-stabilized-apartment-homes-rise.html * Give this article * * * 246 Advertisement Continue reading the main story Supported by Continue reading the main story RENTS FOR 2 MILLION NEW YORKERS TO RISE AGAIN THIS YEAR Rent-stabilized apartments have enabled many people to stay in a city that grows ever more expensive. But for the second year in a row, rents will rise. * Give this article * * * 246 * Read in app Ahmad Shirazi, 84, and Ann Shirazi, 78, say they were able to stay and raise a family in New York City thanks to their rent-stabilized apartment.Credit...Anna Watts for The New York Times By Mihir Zaveri and Olivia Bensimon June 21, 2023Updated 8:35 p.m. ET For the second consecutive year, a New York City panel that regulates the rents for roughly one million rent-stabilized apartments approved Wednesday some of the highest increases in a decade, as inflation and rising expenses for property owners continue to aggravate the city’s affordability problems. The panel, known as the Rent Guidelines Board, voted 5 to 4 to raise rents on one-year leases by 3 percent, and on two-year leases by 2.75 percent for the first year and 3.2 percent for the second year. It would be the second time during the tenure of Mayor Eric Adams — who appoints members to the panel and has expressed sympathies for the difficulties facing landlords — that the panel allowed stabilized rents to increase. Last year, it voted increases of 3.25 percent one one-year leases and 5 percent on two-year leases. The increases this year and last year were higher than any since 2013. Roughly two million people — a quarter of New York City’s total population — live in rent stabilized apartments, and no other American city has a program as vast. The system has become one of the most important sources of lower-cost housing as the cost-of-living in New York continues to reach new heights, and it has helped retain the city’s middle class. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Several renters across the city — including higher earners, retired people who had lived in their apartments for decades and newcomers — said the incremental rent increases and guaranteed lease renewals that come with rent stabilization have helped them navigate New York City’s chaotic and unforgiving housing market. Advocates for tenants criticized the back-to-back rent increases as emblematic of landlords’ influence over public policy. Property owners, on the other hand, have said they are increasingly feeling beleaguered and unable to make renting stabilized apartments financially viable. For some renters, however, the moment symbolized something deeper: how people of modest means are finding it harder and harder to live in New York City. A 2021 city survey found that one-third of New York City tenants spent more than half of their income on rent. For them, increases will force difficult choices about where else to cut back on spending. “We would eat better,” said Chen Ren Ping, 65, who shares a rent-stabilized apartment in Chinatown he has lived in since 2004. “Our lives would be better.” Mr. Chen said he earns about $794 a month in social security payments. But he said his half of the rent for the two-bedroom apartment is $800, so he does repairs around the neighborhood to supplement his income. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Hundreds of renters and activists packed the raucous meeting Wednesday evening at a Hunter College building on the Upper East Side. Board members were drowned out by boos and chants of “rent roll back.” RENT REGULATION IN NEW YORK CITY Card 1 of 7 An important tool. New York’s rent-regulation system has been in place for decades to help insulate rents from market forces, and rent-stabilized homes remain a crucial component of the city’s dwindling affordable housing stock. Here’s what you should know: What is a rent-controlled apartment? For an apartment to be rent-controlled, a tenant or family member must have been living in the unit since at least July 1971, and the building must have been built before 1947. Families can pass the unit to another member and preserve the rent-control status, but units are decontrolled once vacant. The median monthly rent is around $850. What is a rent-stabilized apartment? Rent stabilization generally applies to apartments in buildings with at least six units that were built either from 1947 to 1974, or before 1947, where an apartment was leased after June 1971. It also applies to newer buildings that receive tax breaks for having units that rent at below the market rate. The median monthly rent is about $1,400. Who decides how much rent in a stabilized apartment should be? Every year, the Rent Guidelines Board, a nine-member body, approves the percentages by which landlords can legally increase rents for stabilized units. The mayor appoints the board’s members to terms of two to four years, and its membership is made up of two tenant representatives, two landlord representatives and five members of the public. What are preferential and maximum legal rent? A preferential rent is a discounted rent for a set period, as defined in your lease. When landlords offer a preferential rent, they also list a “legal rent” — or the stabilized rent of the apartment. Landlords have the option to end the discount and raise the rent to its legal maximum only after the apartment is vacated. How many New York City apartments are rent-regulated? There are roughly 3,644,000 homes in New York City. The roughly 1,006,000 rent-stabilized homes make up about 28% of the overall housing stock, and 44% of all rentals. Only a tiny fraction of the city’s housing — about 16,400 homes — are rent-controlled. How do I know if my apartment is rent-regulated? To find out if your apartment is rent-stabilized or rent-controlled, request its rent history from the Division of Housing and Community Renewal. * * * * * * * As in previous years, the two members representing landlords sought higher increases, while the two representing tenants sought a rent freeze or lower increases. Neither side appeared satisfied with the outcome. “At the end of the day, an unelected board comprised of predominantly non rent-stabilized tenants, who do not interact with or advocate for our communities, will not solve our problems,” said Adán Soltren, a tenant representative on the panel. Christina Smyth, a landlord representative, likened the rent-stabilization system to “the largest unfunded subsidy in history,” with landlords carrying the burden. “Government, not private owners, are responsible for providing assistance to renters in need,” she said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Though they have taken a hard stance against any increases in the past, the two members representing tenants voted in favor of the final numbers. One, Genesis Aquino, said it was the “lowest we were able to secure for tenants.” Mr. Adams said in a statement after the vote that the board had found “the right balance” this year and was protecting tenants as well as “ensuring small property owners have the necessary resources to maintain their buildings.” As expensive as it is to live in New York, no other American city has a rent regulation system as vast: More than one million apartments — half the rental market and almost 30 percent of all of New York City’s homes — are covered by a system begun in 1969. The majority of rent-stabilized homes are in buildings built before 1974. For many years, the number dropped, as landlords moved to leave the program and get more income from higher rents. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Since 2017, however, the overall number has grown, according to a tally of units registered with the city and state, particularly as many new units and rehabilitated units became rent stabilized in exchange for tax breaks or subsidies. Image Rent-stabilized homes include older buildings, often built before 1974, but also, in recent years, an increasing number of newly constructed apartments.Credit...Anna Watts for The New York Times While many of the newer units rent at a higher rate, and there are no income restrictions associated with rent-stabilization, the system tends to benefit people of lower incomes. The median household income in rent-stabilized apartments was $47,000, compared with almost $63,000 in private, unregulated units, according to the 2021 city survey. The median rent in stabilized apartments was $1,400, compared with $1,825 in private, unregulated apartments, according to the survey. The city’s “economic diversity is premised on rent stabilization,” said Samuel Stein, a housing policy analyst at the Community Service Society, a nonprofit group that advocates for lower-income New Yorkers. A group of New York City landlords has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to undo 2019 regulations passed by left-leaning state politicians, a case that has drawn the interest of business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who are eager to see rent controls repealed or eased nationwide. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Michael Tobman, the director of membership and communication for the Rent Stabilization Association, an industry trade group, said the system forces private owners to provide a public benefit. “All they have are escalating costs, and this piece, increases from the Rent Guidelines Board — that’s desperately needed,” he said. Image Tenants have protested recent rent increase proposals by a panel whose members are appointed by the mayor.Credit...Anna Watts for The New York Times But many landlords of rent-stabilized buildings are big companies. They include developers like Cammeby’s, Lefrak and L&M Development, who each have several thousands of rent-stabilized units in their portfolios, in addition to market-rate units. The companies either declined to comment or could not be reached. John A. Crotty, founding member of the Workforce Housing Group, which has about 1,500 rent-stabilized homes in its portfolio, said increases were justified because during the tenure of the previous mayor, Bill de Blasio, the panel largely rejected major increases, placing landlords in a difficult position. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “When you fall below the real cost line, and then you have a period of hyper inflation, how is this any kind of good?” he said. “No matter how big of an increase Adams does, it won’t be enough.” Peter Madden, the executive director of Westbeth Artists Housing, which has about 383 apartments in the West Village, the vast majority of which are rent stabilized, acknowledged the pressures facing property owners. But he also said rent stabilization was the “largest, best affordable housing program the city has.” At Westbeth, which also receives some subsidies from the city, rents on stabilized homes range from less than $1,000 to $2,300 for a three-bedroom. “If not for rent stabilization, I don’t know how folks would do it,” Mr. Madden said. In 1974, Ahmad and Ann Shirazi moved into a rent-stabilized apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, though at $275 a month, the rent felt high for two bedrooms. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The Shirazis hoped to have children and thought their stay would be temporary. Nearly 50 years later, they are still there, after raising two children in a space they made work because it was affordable. Ahmad, 84, a retired film editor who worked on the movies “Scarface" and “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” and Ann, 78, who worked as an illustrator for department stores like Henri Bendel now pay $1,025 a month, while a similar unit in their building, which is not stabilized, rents for more than $5,600. Image Credit...Anna Watts for The New York Times Image Credit...Anna Watts for The New York Times The Shirazis said they oppose the increases. But the couple, who earn about $4,500 a month in retirement benefits, said they will find a way to manage. Keziah Tan, 28, moved into a one-bedroom rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria in October 2022 that cost $2,100 a month. The building has 10 total units and the owner receives a tax break through the 421a program, which expired last year. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Ms. Tan earned $95,000 a year when she moved in, but now earns roughly double that, working in human resources at a streaming services company. “I didn’t necessarily need a nice apartment,” she said. “I just wanted something affordable.” Image The Shirazis say they can manage an anticipated increase in their rent, but they worry about New York City becoming a place only the wealthy can afford to live.Credit...Anna Watts for The New York Times Mihir Zaveri covers housing in New York. @mihirzaveri Read 246 Comments * Give this article * * * 246 * Read in app Advertisement Continue reading the main story COMMENTS 246 Rents for 2 Million New Yorkers to Rise Again This YearSkip to Comments Share your thoughts. The Times needs your voice. We welcome your on-topic commentary, criticism and expertise. 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