A mayoral panel voted for a rent increase of at least four percent for nearly a million city tenants in rent-regulated apartments, the greatest hike since the financial crisis five years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Rent Guidelines Board approved an increase of 4 percent for one-year leases and 7.75 percent for two-year leases. The changes will take effect on or after October 1.
Mayoral hopefuls City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, City Comptroller John Liu and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio had previously joined forces with tenant groups to call for a complete rent freeze. After the vote, Quinn chastised the board’s decision.
“The Rent Guidelines Board had an opportunity to protect tenants, an opportunity the Board squandered when they chose to subject New Yorkers to disruptive rent hikes instead,” Quinn said in a statement.
Landlords said the hike would make up ground lost over previous years, but still won’t meet their needs in some buildings where tenants pay very low rents. In some years, the board had adopted minimum increases for apartments renting for less than $1,000 a month, but didn’t do so this year. [WSJ] – Hiten Samtani