The city’s Rent Guidelines Board voted Wednesday night to freeze rent on rent-stabilized apartments as tenants struggle amid the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shutdown.
The rent-freeze applies to one-year leases on about 1 million rent-stabilized apartments housing over 2 million tenants.
The freeze also applies to the first year of two-year leases. In the second year, landlords can raise rent by 1 percent.
The freeze affects leases renewed between Oct. 1 of this year and Sept. 2021.
The board voted 6 to 3 to approve the freeze, which is the third rent freeze in seven years. Landlords wanted to raise rents on one-year leases by 2 percent and two-year leases by 5 percent.
Mayor Bill de Blasio had been pushing for a rent freeze to help tenants during the pandemic.
“Renters have never faced hardship like this. They desperately need relief and that’s why we fought for this rent freeze,” the mayor said in a statement after the rent freeze was approved. “Now, more renters than ever before will get help keeping a roof over their heads. This is one step of many we have to take to get families through this crisis—but it’s a big one.”
Meanwhile, a state moratorium on evictions lasts until Aug. 20.
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