Neither Renters nor Landlords of Rent Stabilized Units Happy with RGB’s Approved Increase
On June 30, 2025, the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) approved a rent increase for rent stabilized apartments of 3% for one-year leases and 4.5% for two-year leases, affecting leases commencing from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. According to the article by 6sqft, in contrast to the overall 6% increase in rent stabilized rents under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, rents under Mayor Eric Adams have risen 12%; and while de Blasio directed the RGB several times to freeze rents, Adams never supported a rent freeze. However, it must be noted that for most of de Blasio’s term (2014-2021), “landlords could raise rent by 20% on vacant apartments and remove them from the rent stabilization system once the rent hit a certain threshold” — an option that was removed in the NYS’ Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 which tightened tenant protections and outlawed vacancy decontrol. RGB’s completed analysis in the spring of the most recent data available found that net operating income (NOI) for landlords citywide increased 12.1% between 2022 and 2023 compared to the 10.4% increase the previous year; and when adjusted for inflation, NOI rose 8%. Landlords also incurred a 6.3% increase between April 2024 and March 2025 in the price index of operating costs (PIOC), which measures taxes, labor costs, fuel, utilities, maintenance, administrative costs, and insurance costs in rent-stabilized properties. A further study that examined year-to-year changes in housing affordability and tenant income found that cash assistance recipients increased by 16.2%, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients rose to 5.3%, and when adjusted for inflation, average wages decreased by 0.4%. Response to the approved rent increases met with disappointment from by landlord and tenant groups.