Rent in New York City is a significant household expense shaped by a chronic housing shortage, complex regulatory frameworks, and the financial and operational challenges of the city’s public housing system. This page covers CBC’s work on housing production and zoning, rent stabilization policies, the New York City Housing Authority’s fiscal and management reforms, housing voucher programs, and strategies to address rent burdens.
This page was created with AICBC Insights uses AI to group, analyze and present data and recommendations from CBC's publications. Always reference the cited sources to verify important details..
The City and NYCHA should fix or replace deteriorating buildings with the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program and the Preservation Trust.
NYCHA must improve management effectiveness and efficiency, and publicly track progress and impacts.
The City should negotiate savings and increase productivity through collective bargaining.
NYCHA should overhaul the rent collection process to ensure residents pay rent on time.
Adjust credits appropriately for lack of renewable energy availability to encourage electrification: Mitigate penalties if the greening of the grid is slower than planned, which will incentivize building owners to accelerate the switch to electric building systems.
Specify, expand and continue emission limit adjustments for density and specific uses: Alleviate counterproductive disincentives to density and certain economically vital uses by clearly specifying parameters for the law’s adjustments for high density and energy-intensive uses.
Specify and extend need-based building-level adjustments: Set an accelerated, public timeline for rulemaking that includes critical rules governing limit adjustments and penalty mitigation and universal criteria so building owners can determine eligibility and adjusted requirements as-of-right.
Allow carbon trading within an owner’s portfolio: Allow owners of multiple buildings to target the most cost-effective emissions reductions across their assets by establishing a carbon trading scheme that allows credits to be traded within a portfolio.
Adjust limits and penalties appropriately to the post-pandemic economy: Study whether LL97 emissions limits or alternative compliance paths in the first compliance period should be modified due to permanent shifts in work patterns, delays in retrofit projects or financial strain.
Expand allowable RECs to offshore wind and a phased-down portion of Tier 2 RECs: Provide buildings with flexibility while the New York City electric grid remains fossil fuel-powered by allowing buildings to purchase unlimited amounts of Renewable Energy Certificates associated with downstate offshore wind projects.
Key Data
As of March 2026, the CityFHEPS voucher program has seen rapid growth, with costs tripling in three years from $499 million in fiscal year 2023 to a projected $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2026.
In a June 2024 report, the rental vacancy rate in New York City was 1.4 percent, the lowest level since the City started tracking vacancy in the 1960s, while rents reached record highs in April 2024, up 22 percent from pre-pandemic levels.
According to a March 2024 survey, only 30 percent of New Yorkers rated the city's quality of life as excellent or good, a significant decline from 50 percent in 2017 and 2008.
A May 2023 report noted that NYCHA's rent collection rate had plummeted from a pre-pandemic norm of roughly 90 percent to 63 percent in February 2023, costing the authority $350 million to $400 million annually.
The CityFHEPS rental housing voucher program has experienced rapid cost growth, with expenditures tripling in three years to a projected $1.7 billion, necessitating a cap on the number of vouchers to ensure fiscal sustainability. Rather than expanding the program, the city should prioritize existing recipients and leverage state and federal resources to address the underlying housing crisis.
Recommendations related to Rent
The City should cap the number of CityFHEPS vouchers at the current level to restrain unaffordable spending growth without impacting current recipients.
The City should prioritize turnover among current beneficiaries to issue vouchers to new households with the greatest need.
The City should offset CityFHEPS funding by restraining other low-impact spending to manage the program's high annual costs.
The City should leverage State and federal housing subsidy programs to solve the housing crisis rather than relying solely on local vouchers.
The City should partner with the private sector to increase housing production as a primary strategy for addressing the housing crisis.
Key Data
$330 million
— Projected savings in the fiscal year 2027 budget by capping the number of CityFHEPS vouchers.
$3.0 billion
— Projected savings over the five-year financial plan by capping the number of CityFHEPS vouchers.
$499 million
— Cost of the CityFHEPS program in fiscal year 2023.
$1.7 billion
— Projected cost of the CityFHEPS program for the current fiscal year.
64,439
— Number of households served by CityFHEPS as of October 2025.
$12.6 billion
— Total projected spending on CityFHEPS housing vouchers between fiscal years 2026 and 2030.
New York City's chronic housing shortage, driven by sluggish production and restrictive land-use policies, has led to record-high rents and limited mobility for residents. This scarcity forces households to compete for a dwindling supply of homes, which ultimately depresses economic activity and reduces tax revenue for the city.
Recommendations related to Rent
The City must modernize the City’s zoning ordinance to allow more housing everywhere to start to chip away at a housing shortage that has been years in the making.
The State should reform the State’s environmental review laws to increase production at the scale needed to improve affordability.
The State should repeal the Scaffold law, which drives up insurance costs and hinders development.
The State should modernize building codes to facilitate the construction of more housing.
The City should reform the City’s property tax policy to better support new development.
The State should encourage development in the downstate suburbs to increase the regional housing supply.
Key Data
1.4 percent
— The rental vacancy rate in New York City, the lowest level since the City started vacancy tracking in the 1960s.
22 percent
— The increase in New York City rents from pre-pandemic levels as of April 2024.
560,000
— The number of additional housing units a 2021 report by AKRF found New York City needs by 2030.
$309 million
— The estimated amount of personal income and sales tax revenue lost by the City in 2022 due to domestic outmigration.
41.2 percent
— The amount by which the annual turnover rate for New York City rental units is lower than the national average.
170,000
— The number of households in New York City considered severely overcrowded, with more than 1.5 people per room.
$60 billion is how much NYCHA plans to invest in its infrastructure over 5 years. Facing ongoing challenges such as budget gaps, weakening rent collection, and deteriorating physical conditions, NYCHA CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt and Chair Jamie Rubin shared their strategies for managing the nation's largest public housing system.
New York City has experienced rising median asking rents and increased affordability challenges as the city emerges from the pandemic. These economic pressures, alongside other factors, contribute to a significant decline in resident satisfaction with the city's quality of life and government services compared to 2017.
Key Data
$4,272
— Median asking rent in New York City as of December 2023.
New York City's public housing authority is facing a severe financial crisis driven by rising operating costs and a significant decline in rent collection, which has plummeted from 90% pre-pandemic to 63% in early 2023. To achieve solvency, the authority must implement structural reforms, including better management, collective bargaining savings, and a comprehensive overhaul of its rent collection process.
Recommendations related to Rent
The City and NYCHA should fix or replace deteriorating buildings with the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program and the Preservation Trust.
NYCHA must improve management effectiveness and efficiency, and publicly track progress and impacts.
The City should negotiate savings and increase productivity through collective bargaining.
NYCHA should overhaul the rent collection process to ensure residents pay rent on time.
Key Data
$789 million
— The amount by which NYCHA's operating revenue fell short of its public housing operating expenses in 2022.
63%
— The rent collection rate hit a new low in February 2023, down from 90% prior to the pandemic.
$350 million to $400 million
— The estimated annual cost to NYCHA in foregone revenue due to a 65% rent collection rate compared to the pre-pandemic norm.
$466 million
— The total amount of unpaid rent accrued by NYCHA households in arrears as of December 2022.
$1,481
— The monthly per-unit operating cost for NYCHA in 2022, which is double the average rent stabilized unit cost.
NYCHA's rent collection rate has dropped from 90 percent to below 65 percent during the pandemic, resulting in over $450 million in accumulated arrears. To address this, the state should provide one-time aid only if it is offset by other savings and conditioned on a plan to restore rent collection to pre-pandemic levels.
Recommendations related to Rent
Any such one-time aid should be conditioned on NYCHA devising and implementing a plan—with policymaker support for necessary steps—to return its rent collection rate to pre-pandemic levels.
Any aid provided should be offset by savings found elsewhere so it does not exacerbate the State’s long-run fiscal instability.
NYCHA should actively take steps, with policymaker support, to improve its rent collection.
NYCHA should fix its deteriorating buildings through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and the Preservation Trust, improve property management, and increase productivity through collective bargaining changes in its labor agreements.
The State also could help NYCHA reduce costs by reforming the Scaffold Law, and it should increase the Trust’s unit cap when needed.
The federal government also can support NYCHA by increasing funding for Tenant Protection Vouchers and providing procurement flexibility.
Key Data
90 percent
— The previous norm for NYCHA's rent collection rate before the pandemic.
65 percent
— The current rent collection rate for NYCHA, which has fallen below this level.
$450 million
— The amount of accumulated rent arrears currently owed to NYCHA.
$15 billion to $20 billion
— The estimated structural deficit of the State of New York.
59,811 households
— The number of households that requested rent decreases between March 2020 and February 2022.
35 percent
— The portion of occupied units that requested rent decreases between March 2020 and February 2022.
The New York City Housing Authority faces a severe fiscal crisis driven by a record-low 64% rent collection rate and over $454 million in unpaid rent. To achieve solvency, the agency must address these revenue shortfalls by enforcing tenant payment obligations while simultaneously pursuing structural reforms to its building management and maintenance operations.
Recommendations related to Rent
NYCHA should fix deteriorating buildings through the RAD program and the Preservation Trust.
The authority must improve property management to address operational inefficiencies.
NYCHA needs to boost rent collections to stabilize its revenue.
The agency should negotiate savings and increased productivity through collective bargaining.
Going forward, NYCHA should appropriately enforce tenant obligations to pay rent.
Key Data
64%
— The rent collection rate fell to an all-time low in December 2022.
46%
— The percentage of NYCHA households in arrears as of December 2022.
$454 million
— The amount of unpaid rent accrued by households in arrears as of December 2022.
24%
— The portion of total NYCHA arrears covered by households with pending ERAP applications.
59,811
— The number of households that requested rent decreases between March 2020 and February 2022.
35%
— The percentage of occupied units that requested rent decreases between March 2020 and February 2022.
1 in 3 is the number of households in New York City that are severely rent burdened. That means nearly 600,000 households are spending more than half of their monthly income on rent, electricity, and heat. At a recent CBC Trustee event, Jessica Katz, NYC's Chief Housing Officer, discussed how…
As Chief Housing Officer, Katz oversees the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the New York City Housing Authority, the Housing Development Corporation, the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations and the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. Katz most recently served as executive director of the research nonprofit Citizens Housing…
New York City faces an immense housing shortage, with estimates indicating a need for 560,000 additional units by 2030 to accommodate population growth and stabilize housing costs. To address this, the city must implement broad-based rezonings, set clear production goals for all housing types, and reform property tax and construction codes to reduce development costs and alleviate upward pressure on rents.
Recommendations related to Rent
The City should set goals for total housing production (inclusive of both income-restricted and market-rate units), the net growth in housing units citywide, and the net change by community district.
Doubling production will require broad-based rezonings to increase as-of-right development capacity in every neighborhood.
The City should track and publish outcome metrics, such as the share of rent burdened households or the homeownership rate for various groups, to monitor the effectiveness of both demand- and supply-side policies.
The City should reform the property tax system, building and construction codes, insurance laws, and the Multiple Dwelling Law, in order to make housing less expensive to build and operate.
The City should identify the specific operational and policy actions needed to achieve housing goals, identify responsible parties, set implementation milestones, and create a management accountability process.
Key Data
560,000
— Number of additional housing units New York City needs by 2030 to meet existing needs and future population growth.
50,000
— Number of housing units that need to be permitted annually to meet housing needs, which is twice as many as issued in recent years.
40%
— Percentage fewer housing permits issued per resident in New York City compared to San Francisco.
20%
— Percentage of the city’s residential lots that have enough capacity under current zoning to make it worthwhile to develop.
22,000
— Number of vacant positions within the city that could be utilized to improve basic operations and housing services.
$220 billion is the reported size of the New York State fiscal year 2023 budget that the Governor and Legislature adopted on April 10. The budget includes a property tax rebate and a tax holiday, and increases State spending about $14 billion, with more money for education aid, day care,…
New York City's 421-a property tax exemption is essential for rental housing development, as high construction and operating costs make projects financially unfeasible without it. Replacing this program with the proposed Affordable Neighborhoods for New Yorkers (ANNY) program requires modifications to better reflect diverse market conditions and ensure continued housing production.
Recommendations related to Rent
State lawmakers should better tailor affordability options to reflect different market conditions by creating a new option for mid-rise projects outside the Prime Development Area or offering Option B to all projects outside that area.
The City should track and evaluate program usage to inform successor programs by creating a database of project recipients, reporting on residential development trends, and collecting data on the pipeline of projects.
State lawmakers should work with the City to align the incentive with other housing programs by modifying ANNY and the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program to be compatible and clarifying rules for projects receiving bond financing or other subsidies.
State lawmakers should authorize an as-of-right tax exemption designed to foster rental housing development, minimize disruption of land and development markets, and help the City meet its affordable housing production goals.
The City should ensure greater transparency and public reporting of data to support a robust assessment of the program’s impact and effectiveness.
Key Data
30 percent
— New York's property taxes as a percentage of rental income, compared to 13 percent elsewhere in the country.
50 percent
— The cost to operate a multifamily building in New York City is higher than the national average.
75 percent
— The amount rents would have to increase to generate a reasonable rate of return without the 421-a tax exemption.
$3,500
— The approximate median rent for new development projects in Brooklyn and portions of Queens.
$6,000
— The rent level needed to generate a 5 percent yield on cost for new development projects in Brooklyn and portions of Queens without the tax exemption.
$9,800
— The rent level needed to generate a 5 percent yield on cost for new development projects in Manhattan without the tax exemption.
Proposed "good cause" eviction legislation aims to protect tenants from exorbitant rent increases, but risks suppressing new housing development and property maintenance if rent caps are set too low. Instead of broad rent regulation, policymakers should consider alternative interventions like Section 8 vouchers and right-to-counsel programs to better address affordability and tenant stability.
Recommendations related to Rent
New York should exempt new development for a period of time, typically 15 years, to avoid discouraging investment in new rental housing.
The state should adopt higher rent increase caps similar to California and Oregon, which cap increases at 5 percent plus the consumer price index (CPI) and 7 percent plus CPI, respectively.
Legislators should include provisions that allow for existing residential buildings to be redeveloped, as S3082 currently lacks this flexibility.
Policymakers should utilize the federal Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program to alleviate rent burdens, as it is better suited to address the needs of the lowest-income households.
The state should implement right to counsel programs to help tenants enforce their existing legal rights in housing court.
Key Data
3.6 percent
— Average annual rate of increase for operating costs in rent-stabilized buildings between 2010 and 2019.
15.1 percent
— Cumulative increase in rents for rent-stabilized units over a ten-year period.
37.5 percent
— Cumulative increase in operating expenses for rent-stabilized units over a ten-year period.
80 percent
— Higher rate of maintenance deficiencies reported by tenants in rent-stabilized units compared to those in market-rate units.
3.3 percent
— Average annual rent increase that would have resulted from the S3082 formula between 2010 and 2019.
At this time last year, New York State estimated that tax receipts would fall short of pre-pandemic estimates by $15 billion annually on average, totaling $60 billion over four years. Receipts, however, have been much stronger than expected. By April 2021, the State reduced its four-year tax receipt shortfall estimate by 80 percent, to $11.8 billion. Over the four-year period, the State also will receive at least $21.1 billion of targeted and general federal fiscal…
Local Law 97's emissions reduction requirements for large buildings may lead to significant rent increases for commercial and residential tenants as building owners pass on compliance costs. These potential rent hikes are particularly concerning for buildings with lower revenue or those in softer real estate markets where owners struggle to absorb the financial burden of retrofits or penalties.
Recommendations related to Rent
Adjust credits appropriately for lack of renewable energy availability to encourage electrification: Mitigate penalties if the greening of the grid is slower than planned, which will incentivize building owners to accelerate the switch to electric building systems.
Specify, expand and continue emission limit adjustments for density and specific uses: Alleviate counterproductive disincentives to density and certain economically vital uses by clearly specifying parameters for the law’s adjustments for high density and energy-intensive uses.
Specify and extend need-based building-level adjustments: Set an accelerated, public timeline for rulemaking that includes critical rules governing limit adjustments and penalty mitigation and universal criteria so building owners can determine eligibility and adjusted requirements as-of-right.
Allow carbon trading within an owner’s portfolio: Allow owners of multiple buildings to target the most cost-effective emissions reductions across their assets by establishing a carbon trading scheme that allows credits to be traded within a portfolio.
Adjust limits and penalties appropriately to the post-pandemic economy: Study whether LL97 emissions limits or alternative compliance paths in the first compliance period should be modified due to permanent shifts in work patterns, delays in retrofit projects or financial strain.
Expand allowable RECs to offshore wind and a phased-down portion of Tier 2 RECs: Provide buildings with flexibility while the New York City electric grid remains fossil fuel-powered by allowing buildings to purchase unlimited amounts of Renewable Energy Certificates associated with downstate offshore wind projects.
Key Data
$88.33
— Asking rent per square foot for Class A offices in Manhattan’s Midtown South as of the fourth quarter of 2020.
$84.12
— Asking rent per square foot for Class A offices in Manhattan’s Midtown as of the fourth quarter of 2020.
$61.55
— Class A asking rent per square foot in Brooklyn as of the fourth quarter of 2020.
$62.33
— Manhattan’s annual average residential rent per square foot in January 2021.
$43.89
— Brooklyn’s annual average residential rent per square foot in January 2021.
$43.64
— Northwest Queens’ annual average residential rent per square foot in January 2021.
CBC hosted a special panel discussion of prominent fiscal experts who helped New York overcome some of the most dire crises of the past. They provided insights and lessons from past experiences to help us understand and navigate the looming crisis. Stephen Berger Chairman, Odyssey Investment Partners; Former Executive Director,…
New York City's high housing costs are partially offset by lower transportation expenses, making the city the 8th most affordable among 20 major U.S. cities when considering combined costs. To maintain this competitive balance, the city must implement policies to increase housing supply and address the Metropolitan Transit Authority's fiscal and operational challenges.
Recommendations related to Rent
New York City should consider strategies and policies to address housing supply and alleviate housing cost pressures.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority should bring its system closer to a state of good repair and improve service without significantly increasing the cost of transportation to households.
New York City should ensure programs like Fair Fares are successfully implemented to help buoy transportation affordability for lower-income households.
Key Data
$1,778
— Monthly housing costs for the median household in New York City, which ranks as the 5th most expensive among 20 competitor cities.
$832
— Monthly transportation costs for the median household in New York City, which is the least expensive among peer cities.
$69,211
— Median annual household income in New York City, ranking 8th highest among the 20 cities analyzed.
45.3%
— Percentage of income the median household in New York City spends on combined housing and transportation costs.
6.2%
— Growth rate of inflation-adjusted rents in New York City between 2014 and 2017.
6/15 is the date when NYS rent laws are set to expire. Strengthening rent regulation is a top priority for the Governor and state lawmakers in the closing days of the legislative session. Listen to REBNY President John Banks and Assemblymember Harvey Epstein share their perspectives.
Rent regulation in New York often fails to guarantee affordability for low-income households, with 75% of unsubsidized rent-stabilized tenants earning less than 80% of the Area Median Income remaining rent burdened. Furthermore, the system is poorly targeted, as 100,000 upper-income households occupy rent-stabilized units, collectively saving $271 million annually, while stabilized units report 80% more maintenance deficiencies than market-rate apartments.
Recommendations related to Rent
One way to address this issue would be to eliminate rent stabilization for upper-income households who earn more than $200,000 per year.
Preserving the conditions of regulated units would be well served by providing an incentive for investment and supporting better enforcement of the improvement allowances.
For rent regulation to be more effective, reforms should focus on improving conditions for tenants and making the system better targeted to low-income, rent-burdened households.
Key Data
75%
— of unsubsidized rent-stabilized tenants earning less than 80% of Area Median Income were rent burdened in 2017.
100,000
— upper-income households lived in rent-stabilized units built before 1974 in 2017.
$271 million
— is the amount collectively saved each year by upper-income households living in rent-stabilized units.
80%
— more maintenance deficiencies are reported on average in rent-stabilized units than in market-rate units.
60%
— of tenants who moved into stabilized units renting for $2,000 or more per month since 2015 were middle- and upper-income households.
28,000
— upper-income households earned more than $200,000 per year in 2017.
More than 921,000 renter households in New York City pay at least 30 percent of their income in rent, with 462,000 families and single adults facing severe rent burdens of 50 percent or more. Addressing this affordability gap requires significant financial support from state and federal partners, as the city's resources are insufficient to meet the scale of the need and the $32 billion capital requirement for public housing.
Recommendations related to Rent
Any meaningful response to preserve public housing and address the housing needs of severely rent burdened New Yorkers will require willing partners in Albany and Washington.
Key Data
921,000
— renter households in New York City, or 44 percent of all renters, pay at least 30 percent of their income in rent.
462,000
— families and single adults are severely rent burdened, paying 50 percent or more of their income in rent.
$32 billion
— capital need for New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) public housing units.
35 percent
— of single seniors were low-income and severely rent burdened.
In 2017, 44 percent of New York City renter households were rent burdened, with 462,000 families paying at least half of their income toward housing costs. Addressing this affordability crisis requires significant state and federal assistance, particularly to repair the city's public housing stock, which faces an estimated $32 billion in necessary maintenance costs.
Recommendations related to Rent
Any strategy to protect or preserve affordable housing must include New York City’s public housing and requires State and federal assistance.
The City cannot and should not be expected to close the affordability gap on its own.
Key Data
921,000
— Number of renter households in New York City paying at least 30 percent of their income in rent after accounting for vouchers and SNAP benefits.
462,000
— Number of families and single adults considered severely rent burdened, meaning they pay at least half of their income in rent.
$32 billion
— Estimated cost of bringing New York City Housing Authority units back to a state of good repair.
$24,423
— Average annual income of a family living in New York City Housing Authority housing.
$522
— Average monthly rent paid by a family living in New York City Housing Authority housing.
56 percent
— Percentage of New York City’s renter households that were rent burdened in 2017 based on gross rent.
New York City has produced or preserved 77,651 affordable housing units under the Housing New York plan since 2014, though activity remains limited in several neighborhoods with high concentrations of households paying more than 30% of their income on rent. An interactive map illustrates the distribution of these developments, highlighting disparities in construction and preservation efforts across the city.
Key Data
77,651
— Affordable housing units produced or preserved under the housing plan since January 2014.
30%
— Share of income paid on rent that defines a household as rent-burdened.
NYCHA has achieved a recent budget surplus due to increased government support and a new rent structure, but its long-term financial stability remains precarious. To ensure future viability, the authority must aggressively implement efficiency reforms, improve rent collection, and secure consistent funding.
Recommendations related to Rent
Ease work rule restrictions in the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations.
Come to an agreement for rent payment by non-profit tenants in NYCHA buildings.
Support NYCHA’s proposal to raise parking fees to market rates.
Lobby the federal government against onerous changes to public housing operating and capital subsidies.
Key Data
$122 million
— Growth in rent paid by NYCHA tenants between 2013 and 2016.
14 percent
— Increase in rent paid by NYCHA tenants between 2013 and 2016.
77 percent
— NYCHA's rent collection rate in December 2013.
65 percent
— NYCHA's rent collection rate in February 2017.
95 percent
— NYCHA's target rent collection rate.
$5 million
— Amount by which tenant rental revenue exceeded the forecast in 2016.
High land and construction costs in New York City often result in rents that exceed the standard 30 percent affordability threshold, necessitating government subsidies. To maximize affordable housing production, policymakers should explore strategies like improving land use efficiency, lowering construction costs, and utilizing cross-subsidies.
Recommendations related to Rent
Options for increasing the efficient use of land, reducing construction costs, and effectively using cross-subsidies should be explored to maximize the amount of affordable housing that can be produced.
Key Data
30%
— The commonly-used threshold for housing affordability, which many rents exceed due to high land and construction costs.
New York City's rental affordability problem is largely an income issue, with 42 percent of renter households considered rent-burdened when accounting for out-of-pocket costs and income support. Targeted programs should focus on single seniors and single parents, who face the highest rates of severe rent burdens.
Recommendations related to Rent
Attention should be paid in particular to single seniors and single parents in targeting programs to address affordability.
Key Data
42%
— of New York City’s renter households are considered rent-burdened when adjusting for out-of-pocket rent and income support.
94%
— of severely rent-burdened households are low income.
891,037
— households were identified as rent-burdened in 2014.
456,488
— households were identified as severely rent-burdened in 2014.
32%
— of single seniors pay more than half of their income in rent.
13%
— of households face housing costs between 30 and 40 percent of income.
Rent regulation in New York City is often misunderstood, as data shows that 38 percent of tenant households are rent-burdened, and a majority of tenants in market-rate units actually pay affordable rents. Furthermore, rent-regulated housing is not inherently affordable for low-income tenants, as 44 percent of those in such units are rent-burdened, while the total number of regulated units has recently stabilized.
Key Data
38 percent
— of New York City’s tenant households are rent burdened when using the out-of-pocket measure.
54 percent
— of tenants in market-rate units have affordable rent.
44 percent
— of tenants in rent-regulated units are rent-burdened.
96 percent
— of middle-income tenant households outside of Manhattan are not rent burdened.
1,087
— is the number of rent-regulated units that grew in 2013.
4,801
— is the number of units lost to vacancy/high-rent decontrol in 2013.
New York City's high housing costs are partially offset by lower transportation expenses, resulting in a combined location cost burden of 32 percent of income for the typical household. Increasing residential density in transit corridors remains a key strategy for maintaining affordability while managing the city's overall cost of living.
Recommendations related to Rent
Municipal leaders should be concerned with the fiscal health and administration of New York City’s major transit agencies – the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state and city transportation departments, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Increasing density in transit corridors – an important component of the Mayor’s affordable housing plan – is a sensible approach to development.
Key Data
$14,700
— Annual rent for a typical household in New York City.
$5,752
— Annual transportation costs for a typical household in New York City.
32 percent
— Location cost burden for a typical household in New York City.
$20,452
— Total location costs (housing and transportation) for a typical household in New York City.
$63,915
— Annual income of a typical household in New York City.
$11,217
— Annual transportation costs for a typical household in San Jose.
New York City's rental market is characterized by a high reliance on rental housing and a slower growth in housing supply compared to other large cities, contributing to affordability challenges. While median rents are not the highest in the nation, over half of rental households spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, a figure that has increased significantly since 2000.
Recommendations related to Rent
Policy solutions that increase development and the supply of housing are appropriate to address the affordability problem.
Key Data
68.3 percent
— The rental share of occupied housing units in New York City, which is greater than every other large city.
5.8 percent
— The increase in the number of housing units in New York City between 2000 and 2012, which was slower than all but three of the 22 large cities.
3.6 percent
— The vacancy rate in New York City in 2012, which is below the 5 percent 'emergency' level used to justify rent regulation.
51 percent
— The share of rental households in New York City that spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing in 2012.
$1,196
— The median rent in New York City in 2012, ranking it the sixth most expensive among the 22 cities analyzed.
New York City faces challenges in maintaining its competitive edge due to high housing costs and lengthy commutes, which impact its overall quality of life. Addressing these quality of life issues is essential to sustaining the city's economic prosperity and attractiveness to a highly-educated workforce.
Key Data
9
— New York City's rank for rent affordability among 14 of the largest domestic metro areas.
New York City's rent regulation system is poorly targeted, with the highest-income households receiving the largest average benefits while many low-income renters remain in unregulated units without affordable housing. Instead of expanding these regulations to higher-income families, the city should focus on phasing out benefits for those who do not need them and pursuing more effective housing solutions.
Recommendations related to Rent
The protections now available to low- and moderate-income households should be retained.
The legislature should reduce the inequities and social costs of regulation by phasing out benefits for higher-income households.
State leaders must acknowledge that rent regulation is not the answer to the city's affordable housing problems and shift their focus to better targeted and more effective solutions.
Key Data
60%
— Percentage of rent regulation benefits that accrue to households with incomes below $50,000.
14%
— Percentage of rent regulation benefits that go to households with incomes of $100,000 or more.
$283 million
— Annual reduction in property tax liability caused by lower rents in the regulated sector.
$175,000
— Annual income threshold for a tenant to be eligible for high-income, high-rent vacancy decontrol.
35.8%
— Percentage of private-sector renters with incomes below $50,000 who are in unregulated units.
19.6%
— Percentage of households without government housing assistance that have affordable housing.
New York City's rent regulation system, covering over one million units, provides significant but poorly targeted rent discounts that disproportionately benefit higher-income households while imposing costs like lost property tax revenue and higher rents in the unregulated market. Future policy should focus on phasing out benefits for high-income households and expanding more effective programs to promote affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents.
Recommendations related to Rent
Benefits now available to low- and moderate-income households should not be reduced, but the poorly targeted benefits can be removed at an accelerated pace by phasing out regulation for higher-income households.
The long-term contraction in the scope of rent regulation should be accompanied by expansion of other more effective programs to promote affordable housing.
New legislation should phase out benefits for all high-income households.
The City should evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of existing affordable housing programs and other policies, such as zoning, that affect housing investment.
The City should experiment with additional programmatic models and expand their financial commitment as economic and fiscal conditions improve.
Key Data
$5,500
— Average annual rent reduction per housing unit provided by rent regulation.
$1.9 billion
— Estimated annual amount more that 669,000 households in unregulated units paid in rent due to the effects of rent regulation.
$283 million
— Estimated annual decrease in the City of New York’s property tax revenue caused by rent regulation.
$2.6 billion
— Total annual rent discount associated with rent regulation under the assumption that unregulated rents would fall 15 percent if regulation were eliminated.
190,000
— Number of units removed from rent regulation from 1994 through 2008.
$42 million
— Annual cost to administer rent regulations.
Rent regulation in New York City is poorly targeted, failing to provide adequate relief to those in need while imposing significant costs on unregulated renters and reducing potential property tax revenue. The current system results in unregulated tenants paying higher costs and limits funds that could otherwise support essential public services like education and law enforcement.
Key Data
$2,800
— Average amount more per year that tenants in the unregulated rental market pay for their apartments than they would pay if there were no rent regulation.
$1.9 billion
— Total annual cost that the more than 669,000 unregulated renters pay as a consequence of rent regulation.
669,000
— Number of unregulated renters who pay higher costs as a consequence of rent regulation.
500,000
— Number of households in unregulated units that have incomes below $75,000.
$283 million
— Amount of annual property tax revenue the city would gain without rent regulation, which could be used for teachers, police, and other services.
31%
— Average discount provided by rent regulation based on 2008 data.
New York City's rent regulation system covers over one million housing units, yet it often fails to make housing affordable for the lowest-income households while providing benefits to many higher-income residents. State leaders should prioritize targeted assistance for low-income families and market-based solutions to expand housing choices rather than simply extending the reach of current regulations.
Recommendations related to Rent
The Legislature should be cautious about initiatives to extend the reach of rent regulation.
State leaders should think more broadly about ways to better target assistance to lower income households.
State leaders should allow the market to work in ways that better allocate housing and expand housing choices for all New Yorkers.
Key Data
1,045,317
— Number of occupied, regulated housing units in New York City in 2008.
2.1%
— Vacancy rate among regulated units in New York City in 2008.
4.7%
— Vacancy rate in the unregulated rental sector in New York City in 2008.
9.9%
— Vacancy rate reported for all central cities in the 2007 American Housing Survey.
$35,297
— Median income of households in regulated housing in 2007.
$45,000
— Median income of households citywide in 2007.
New York's current circuit breaker program for property tax relief is outdated, as it relies on income and rent ceilings established in 1985 that no longer reflect modern economic realities. An expanded program could more effectively support both homeowners and renters by providing tax credits to those whose housing costs exceed a specific percentage of their income.
Recommendations related to Rent
New York should replace the current, ineffective STAR homestead exemption program with an improved circuit breaker program that provides more targeted relief.
The state should implement a circuit breaker program for renters that refunds property taxes in excess of 6 percent of New York Adjusted Gross Income.
Policymakers should update the income and wealth criteria for the circuit breaker program, which have not been modified since 1985, to reflect current economic conditions.
Key Data
$875
— The median rent in New York in 2006.
$2.7 Billion
— The estimated cost of a circuit breaker program for renters that refunds property taxes in excess of 6 percent of New York Adjusted Gross Income.
5.1 million
— The total number of owners and renters that would be reached by the dollars planned for the STAR program.
45%
— The percentage of income that homeowners and renters with incomes below the federal poverty line spend on median monthly housing costs.
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