Rent Guidelines Board backs rent hikes between 1.75% and 7.75% for NYC’s stabilized apartments
Tenants called for a rent freeze during a preliminary vote by the Rent Guidelines Board on April 30. Photo courtesy of New York State Tenant Bloc.
Rent for nearly one million rent-stabilized apartments in New York City will likely rise again, as the city’s Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) backs increases for the fourth straight year. In a preliminary vote on Wednesday, the nine-member board voted 5–4 in support of rent increases, ranging between 1.75 and 4.75 percent for one-year leases and 4.75 and 7.75 percent for two-year leases. The first public hearing on the proposed increases is scheduled for May 22, with a final vote expected in late June.
The approval marks the fourth such vote under Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. During former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s term, the RGB froze rent several times, with 1.5 percent for one-year leases being the highest increase approved during his administration.
Last year, the RGB approved rent hikes of 2.75 percent for one-year leases and 5.25 percent for two-year leases, affecting roughly two million New Yorkers. In 2023, the board voted to increase rents by 3 percent on one-year leases and by 2.75 percent in the first year and 3.2 percent in the second year for two-year leases.
In 2022, the board approved hikes of 3.25 percent on one-year leases and 5 percent on two-year leases.
During Wednesday’s vote, landlord-backed board members proposed increases of 6 to 8 percent on one-year leases and 8 to 9 percent on two-year leases, while tenant representatives called for more minimal hikes of 0 to 1.75 percent for one-year leases and 0 to 3.75 percent for two-year leases.
As 6sqft previously reported, the proposed rent increases are based on several metrics that account for the economic conditions for both landlords and tenants. According to the board, whose members are appointed by the mayor, the price index of operating costs (PIOC), which measures taxes, labor costs, fuel, utilities, maintenance, administrative costs, and insurance costs in rent-stabilized properties, has risen 6.3 percent between April 2024 and March 2025.
The RGB uses the PIOC in three separate formulas to calculate potential increases for renters each year: the Net Revenue approach, which considers changes in the PIOC and rent revenue based on lease estimates; the CPI-Adjusted NOI, which factors in the PIOC, the mix of lease terms, and inflation’s impact on net operating income; and the traditional formula, which incorporates both current and projected changes in the PIOC.
In response to the proposed rent hikes, the mayor acknowledged the board’s task of balancing the need to protect the quality of rent-stabilized homes without overburdening tenants with exorbitant rent hikes and said an increase of 7.75 percent is “far too unreasonable.”
Earlier this week, Adams did not outright support a rent freeze when asked and instead said small property owners need protection.
“In the coming weeks before a final vote, we will take a close look at the preliminary ranges voted on by the RGB,” Adams said. “But I must be clear that an increase as much as 7.75 percent is far too unreasonable of a burden for tenants, especially as our entire city is feeling the squeeze of a 1.4 percent housing vacancy rate and a decades-long affordability crisis. New Yorkers simply cannot bear these costs.”
The tenant advocate group New York State Tenant Bloc launched a campaign this year to support candidates who promote renter-friendly policies, particularly in the mayoral election, including pushing for a rent freeze.
“Tenants are ready to vote for candidates who will make their lives better. Freezing the rent would put $600 a month back in our pockets, so no one has to choose between rent and groceries,” Cea Weaver, director of the Tenant Bloc, said.
“It is the single most powerful thing the mayor can do to make New York affordable. Tenants are the majority in New York City. If Adams won’t freeze the rent, we have the power to elect a mayor who will.”
Mayoral candidates who have pledged to freeze rents if elected include Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, State Senator Jessica Ramos, and former Assembly Member Michael Blake. City Comptroller Brad Lander has said he would support a freeze “if data supports it,” as 6sqft previously reported.
On Thursday, Mamdani joined members of the Tenant Bloc to protest the proposed rent hikes. At a press conference ahead of the meeting, tenant advocates renewed their calls for a rent freeze, citing new data from the Community Service Society that estimated such a freeze would save New Yorkers up to $7 billion, or about $600 a month, on average.
As with previous votes, neither party was left satisfied. Kenny Burgos, chief executive of the New York Apartment Association, described the proposed ranges as “too modest,” as reported by the New York Times.
“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,” Burgos said. “If they do not take action, then thousands of rent-stabilized buildings will fail in the next year.”
The first public hearing on the proposed rent hikes is scheduled for May 22 at 9:30 a.m. at Spector Hall at 22 Reade Street. A final vote will take place in late June, with specific meeting details to be announced at a later date.
RELATED:
