Preferential Rents in NYC
Newly released data shows ZIP codes where rents could suddenly jump for rent-stabilized apartments
In 2003, lawmakers in New York State passed a law that in effect allowed landlords to bypass annual limits on rent increases for their rent-stabilized apartments. Owners could raise rents by more than the annual limits if they registered a high rent — often high above existing market rates -- but charged tenants a lower, “preferential” rent. Preferential rents are not regulated and can be raised up to the registered rate upon lease renewal. Today, more than 250,000 New York City apartments feature these rents, often in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Related Story »
Source: June 2017 data memo by New York City Rent Guidelines Board summarizing preferential and occupied rent-stabilized apartment unit counts by ZIP code. Poverty data from the 2015 American Community Survey 5-year estimates via CensusReporter.org. ZIP code shapes from DoITT.
Note: Preferential rents are a subset of rent-stabilized apartments, which are regulated under state rent laws. A neighborhood may also include unregulated apartments, which are not subject to the annual rent limits. Rent-stabilized unit count excludes vacant apartments and those claimed as exempt from rent-stabilization
Methodology: We joined data on rent-stabilized units to ZIP code shapes provided by New York City. We then joined census data on ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) to provide more context. Because of the imprecise conversion of USPS ZIP Codes to Census ZCTAs, we use ranges rather than numbers for demographic variables. We exclude areas with 250 or fewer occupied rent-stabilized apartments from the visualization, though you can look them up.
Additional reporting by Sandhya Kambhampati
Source: June 2017 data memo by New York City Rent Guidelines Board summarizing preferential and occupied rent-stabilized apartment unit counts by ZIP code. Poverty data from the 2015 American Community Survey 5-year estimates via CensusReporter.org. ZIP code shapes from DoITT.
Note: Preferential rents are a subset of rent-stabilized apartments, which are regulated under state rent laws. A neighborhood may also include unregulated apartments, which are not subject to the annual rent limits. Rent-stabilized unit count excludes vacant apartments and those claimed as exempt from rent-stabilization
Methodology: We joined data on rent-stabilized units to ZIP code shapes provided by New York City. We then joined census data on ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) to provide more context. Because of the imprecise conversion of USPS ZIP Codes to Census ZCTAs, we use ranges rather than numbers for demographic variables. We exclude areas with 250 or fewer occupied rent-stabilized apartments from the visualization, though you can look them up.
Additional reporting by Sandhya Kambhampati