New Yorkers who live in the one million rent-regulated apartments across the Big Apple can expect a rent hike for the second year in a row.
The Rent Guidelines Board is expected to vote Monday evening to allow building owners to increase monthly payments for one-year leases by up to 3% and a 5.25% for two-year leases.
The increases would only apply to leases issued or renewed between October 2024 and September 2025.
The anticipated decision from the RGB ushers in the newest wave of rent increases to keep up with inflation and the cost of living.
It marks the second consecutive year of rent hikes for stabilized apartments, following last year’s decision that raised two-year leases by up to 6% — drawing outrage from tenants and their advocates who cited the city’s housing crisis, which has seen dwindling vacancies and contentious battles over broker fees.
Mayor Eric Adams, who celebrated the RGB’s 2023 rent hike, cited the importance of ensuring the stability of landlords, too, not just tenants.
“We have to find a way that we don’t run out the landlords, particularly those small property owners, that are seeing this increase also,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference in City Hall on Monday afternoon.
“We have to find that sweet spot.”
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, however, opposed the expected decision, calling for the RGB to limit its increase just hours before the vote.
“New York City remains in the throes of a severe housing shortage and affordability crisis, record-high homelessness, and rising evictions that continue to push working- and middle-class families into dire situations and out of our city,” Adams, no relation to the mayor, said in a statement.
“These challenges, along with the increased cost of living, require all levels of government work towards solutions to stem the exodus of New Yorkers and help them stay in the city they love.”
The average New York renter spends roughly $10,000 upfront alone before even moving in and the average rent in Manhattan sits at a mind-boggling $5,150 a month.
President of the Rent Stabilization Association Joseph Strasburg said the hike didn’t go far enough.
He specifically found it alarming that the RGB did not follow its own data, which signaled a need for even higher increases in rent.
“Adding to the calamitous effects of Albany’s economically damaging housing policies, this year’s RGB vote pushes the city’s largest segment of affordable housing, already in financial distress, closer to the edge of insolvency – a disaster for owners and the millions of New Yorkers they house,” Strasburg said in a press release.
