In New York, Panel Backs Rent Increases for More Than 2 Million

The New York City panel charged with regulating rents across nearly one million rent-stabilized homes voted on Thursday to support the largest increases in almost a decade.

The move, which must be formally approved next month, would raise rents on one-year leases by 2 to 4 percent, and on two-year leases by 4 to 6 percent. The increases are another reminder of the affordability crisis the city faces as it emerges from the pandemic.

The panel, known as the Rent Guidelines Board, kept increases low during the tenure of the previous mayor, Bill de Blasio, a progressive who ran on promises to reduce inequality. In four of the last eight years, the board, which is effectively controlled by the mayor, voted for rent freezes.

But even during his campaign, Mayor Eric Adams, who is more moderate in many of his stances, had expressed skepticism about rent freezes and sympathy for mom-and-pop landlords. Members of the real estate industry have been among the biggest donors to the mayor, and Thursday’s vote echoed his friendlier posture toward the city’s business leaders and smaller property owners.

Mr. Adams said that some of the increases that were originally floated — up to 4.5 percent for one-year leases and up to 9 percent for two-year leases — were too high and he called for “better balance.”

“It is good the board moved lower,” he said in a statement after the vote. “But if rents and the other costs of living are going to go up with inflation and other economic issues, then so too must government support, which is why I have been fighting for a more generous housing voucher program, a more robust earned income tax credit and significant investments in child care.”

For at least the past 20 years, the outcome of the preliminary vote has closely matched the final figures, which have often followed patterns of inflation. Inflation was mostly lower during Mr. de Blasio’s tenure compared with today. The last time there was a major increase — 4 percent on one-year leases and 7.75 percent on two-year leases — was in 2013.

The current proposals were adopted by a vote of five to four during the virtual meeting on Thursday, and amounted to a middle ground: less than the increases the landlord representatives on the board proposed at the meeting, and more than those favored by representatives of tenants.

But the proposed numbers are likely to spark protests and intensify lobbying efforts by landlord groups, who are pushing for higher rent increases, and by tenant advocates, who feared any increase could derail the ability of low-income New Yorkers to regain their economic footing during the pandemic.

Most of the more than two million New Yorkers who live in rent-stabilized homes, more than the populations of Dallas or Philadelphia, earn much less than the citywide median household income of about $67,000. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers fell behind on rent during the pandemic and many still owe thousands of dollars.

Meanwhile, evictions, while still far below prepandemic levels, have risen in recent weeks. After a pandemic dip, rent levels in homes that are not regulated by the city have increased sharply.

But landlords and their advocates…