The prices of rent-stabilized apartments are set to go up in the Big Apple after the city’s Rent Guidelines Board voted in favor of potential hikes Wednesday.
The panel, which is charged with deciding rates for the Big Apple’s regulated apartments, agreed to rent increases between 1.75% to 4.75% for one-year leases and between 4.75% to 7.75% for two-year leases.
The board, which has increased rents by a combined 9% in the last three years, will finalize the rates in a June vote.
Any approved hikes would affect rent-stabilized leases that start on or after Oct. 1.
Mayor Eric Adams described the vote as a “challenging decision” given the need to balance the quality of regulated buildings without overburdening tenants with infeasible increases.
He acknowledged, though, that a 7.75% increase was “far too unreasonable of a burden for tenants” amid a housing affordability crisis.
The New York Apartment Association, which represents the owners of some 400,000 regulated units, said the proposed hikes didn’t go far enough.
“Following this inadequate adjustment, we now need elected officials to step up and lower the costs they can control – like property taxes, water and sewer payments, and energy prices,” CEO Kenny Burgos said. “If they do not take action, then thousands of rent-stabilized buildings will fail in the next year.”
Another group representing landlords said the proposed rent increases don’t go far enough to cover higher property taxes and costs for insurance, utilities and maintenance and repairs.
“This RGB panel is on the same course as its predecessors of under-indexing rent increases; the preliminary range inexplicably doesn’t follow the math of its own data, which indicates a starting point of 6.3% for this year’s rent adjustment,” said Ann Korchak, board president of Small Property Owners of New York
“The RGB must now take bold action, departing from its preliminary range and setting higher rent increases.”
