Press Release: Rent Stabilized-Landlords Continue to Profit As Tenants Continue to Struggle

Press Release

Rent Stabilized-Landlords Continue to Profit As Tenants Continue to Struggle

Today's Rent Guidelines Board meeting revealed two stark facts: rent stabilized-landlords continue to profit, while rent-stabilized tenants continue to struggle.

The Board's 2026 Income and Expense report shows that Net Operating Incomes (NOI, or landlords' incomes minus operating expenses) rose by 6.2 percent, on top of last year's 12.1 percent increase and the previous year's 10.4 percent jump, compounding and combining into an overall NOI growth of more than 30 percent over the past three years.

Adjusting for inflation and looking over the long-term, rent stabilized landlords' average NOI has gone up by 56.6 percent since 1990. Meanwhile, over the past year, rent stabilized building distress levels stayed steady, rent collection rates rose across the city, and operating costs grew at a slower pace. Taken together, the Board's data does not point to any need for a rent increase.

Meanwhile, Community Service Society of New York (CSS) senior policy analysts Oksana Mironova and Samuel Stein reported on the findings from CSS's most recent Annual Survey of Housing and Economic Security, a scientific survey of New Yorkers conducted in summer, 2025. The survey found that low-income rent stabilized tenants are struggling financially. Sixty-seven percent struggle to make ends meet, 83 percent have little-to-no savings, and 55 percent probably could not afford to cover a $400 unexpected expense. When asked what issue they would most like New York City leaders to focus on, a majority (56 percent) chose "Reducing the cost of housing."

Today's presentations made clear that while rent-stabilized landlords are continuing to do good business, rent-stabilized tenants are struggling to make ends meet.

The Community Service Society of New York (CSS) has worked with and for New Yorkers since 1843 to promote economic opportunity and champion a more equitable city and state. We power change through a strategic combination of research, services, and advocacy to make New York more livable for people facing economic insecurity. www.cssny.org

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Issues Covered

Affordable Housing

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