These NYC Landlords May Raise Rents Under New Mamdani Housing Plan

NEW YORK, NY— New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a plan to allow some landlords to raise rents on vacant rent-stabilized apartments even as his administration pushes for a broader rent freeze, a move aimed at easing pressure on distressed affordable-housing owners.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the policy details.

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Under the proposal, owners of certain vacant apartments financed and regulated through the city’s housing agencies could apply for one-time rent increases before new tenants move in.

City officials said the increases would be determined case by case and could add hundreds of dollars a month to some units.

Mamdani said the policy would not create a blanket exemption from a potential rent freeze expected to come before the city’s Rent Guidelines Board.

“No tenant would see their rent increase beyond that which the RGB determines,” Mamdani said Tuesday, referring to the Rent Guidelines Board.

The increases would apply only to vacant apartments already regulated through city housing programs and would remain subject to income limits tied to affordability rules, according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

“The reality is, they will all remain affordable,” Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Dina Levy said.

The proposal targets roughly 300,000 apartments financed through city housing agencies, about one-third of the city’s rent-stabilized housing stock. Officials said hundreds of vacant units could qualify for the rent increases.

The broader housing package also includes a new city-run system designed to help affordable-housing landlords secure financing for repairs, obtain tax exemptions and resolve housing-code violations through a single process.

City officials also announced a $5 million loan program intended to help landlords cover tenants’ unpaid rent and avoid evictions.

The measures arrive as the administration prepares for a June vote by the Rent Guidelines Board on annual rent adjustments for the City’s roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. Tenant and landlord groups expect the board to approve a rent freeze for at least the coming year.

Critics of the plan said the administration offered little relief for small landlords struggling to operate rent-stabilized buildings under rising costs and the prospect of a rent freeze.

“This is a one-sided, pro-tenant plan that does absolutely nothing for thousands of distressed small rent-stabilized property owners, who next month will be saddled with a Mamdani-engineered rent freeze from the Rent Guidelines Board,” said Ann Korchak, board president of the Small Property Owners of New York.

Korchak said small owners often face tenant-caused violations and denied access to apartments, adding that the administration’s approach “will deepen the distress of rent-stabilized properties, the backbone of affordable housing.”

Mamdani built his mayoral campaign around affordability and pledged to freeze rents on regulated apartments during his first term. The proposal drew concern from landlords facing rising insurance, utility and maintenance costs while operating under existing caps on rent increases.

In April, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg announced a city-backed insurance program intended to cut building insurance costs by 20 percent to 30 percent for some apartment owners.

Mamdani’s housing agenda also calls for building 200,000 new homes and preserving another 200,000 existing units across the city.