N.Y.C. Rent Board Sets Increases of 2.75% for One-Year Leases

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A New York City panel approved rent increases for almost one million stabilized apartments on Monday evening. The carefully watched annual vote highlighted the city’s affordability crisis, a core struggle in New York and other cities across the nation.

The nine-person panel, the Rent Guidelines Board, voted to support an increase of 2.75 percent for one-year leases, with five voting in favor. It voted to support two-year lease increases of 5.25 percent. Those numbers were slightly less than those that the board approved last year.

The vote on Monday set the final numbers after an earlier vote on a preliminary range in April. Landlords could start raising rents in October.

Deep Divisions: The votes over rent increases have drawn protests.

Rent-stabilized apartments house roughly a quarter of the city’s population. In a city where rents on the open market have skyrocketed and available apartments are scarce, stabilized units are treasured finds. The median monthly rent was about $1,500 for a stabilized unit in 2023, compared with $2,000 for an unregulated apartment, according to a recent city survey.

But tenants and their advocates have called on the city to freeze or reduce rents for stabilized units in recent years, as many New Yorkers struggle with the high cost of living. Landlords, for their part, have asked for increases to help cover the high costs of property taxes, insurance, mortgages and maintenance.

On Monday evening, Robert Ehrlich, a board member who represents landlords, said rent-stabilized buildings are in “severe financial stress” and called for the board to be more responsive.

Tenant representatives argued for changes to the board itself. Adán Soltren, one of the tenant representatives, said the process should allow the public more of a voice and include City Council oversight. He said the vote on Monday would hurt New Yorkers. “People are going to be homeless because of this,” he said. “People aren’t going to be able to pay for medication because of this.”

The Rent Guidelines Board examines the factors affecting both constituencies when deciding whether to allow rent increases. The board consists of two members representing tenant interests, two representing the interests of owners and five representing the general public. All members are appointed by the mayor. The vote on Monday was the third consecutive year of increases.

Earlier in the day, Mayor Eric Adams and Maria Torres-Springer, the deputy mayor for housing, economic development and work force, expressed support for increases on the lower end of the expected range.

“People are hurting,” Mayor Adams said at his weekly news conference Monday. But he added that he was also concerned about small landlords who have been affected by higher costs because of inflation. “We have to find a middle ground,” he said.