New York’s roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments could be eyeing rent increases of 2% to 4.5% for a one-year lease beginning on or after October.
The city’s nine-member Rent Guidelines Board, made up of two members each representing tenant and owner interests and five others advocating for the general public, late Tuesday approved in a preliminary vote rent hikes of between 2% and 4.5% for a one-year lease beginning on or after Oct. 1. Rent on a two-year lease could go up between 4% and 6.5%.
The board said it will have a final vote on June 17 after hearings and the receipt of public comments on the proposed rent guidelines, with the final decision to affect rent-stabilized apartment leases from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2025.
Last year, the board, all appointed by the mayor, voted to raise rent by 3% for a one-year lease beginning on or after Oct. 1 while raising rent on a two-year lease by 2.75% in the first year and 3.2% in the second year, for a total of about 6%. In 2022, the board voted to raise rent by 3.25% for a one-year lease and a two-year lease by 5% in the largest rent hikes in about 10 years.
The city had about 996,600 rent-stabilized apartments in 2023, representing just 27% of the city’s overall housing stock and 41% of its rental units, according to the 2023 New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those units had a median monthly rent of $1,500 versus $2,000 for market rentals, according to the survey. In contrast, the city’s average market asking rent per unit has surged to a record high of about $3,150, according to CoStar data.
The decision about the rent hikes has led to a fierce debate among landlord and tenant advocates as they say they've been hard hit by inflationary and other economic pressures in one of the world’s most expensive markets.