Landlord and tenant groups are gearing up for round infinity of the battle over raising rents on stabilized apartments in New York.
The Rent Guidelines Board had a meeting on Thursday and will use the next few months to decide what the permissible rent increases are for rent-stabilized apartments in New York City in the coming year, with a final vote set for June, according to the New York Times. In 2016, the average rent for tenants living in rent stabilized buildings increased by 3.1 percent, which was the smallest in six years, a new study from the board said.
The study also found that median rent for rent-stabilized apartments in 2016 was $1,182, while the median cost of operating a unit was $847, and that the operating incomes of landlords after expenses grew for the 12th year in a row.
Last year, the board said that rents could increase by 1.25 percent on one-year leases and by 2 percent on two-year leases. Members voted to freeze rents on one-year leases for two years in a row prior to that decision.
In 2017, the city had 966,000 rent-stabilized apartments — 44 percent of its rental stock, according to the RGB.
Tenant activists have already started advocating for another rent freeze, with about 12 rallying for this outside of the board’s meeting before it started on Thursday. Rent Stabilization Association spokesman Vito Signorile told the Times that his group would advocate for an “adequate” rent increase in 2018 to make up “for the minor increases and lack thereof” during Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. [NYT] – Eddie Small