What to Know About NYC’s Two-Year Rent Freeze

Key Takeaways

• New York City's Rent Guidelines Board froze rent for two-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments for the first time in history.
• The RGB voted to freeze rent to combat the ongoing affordability crisis in New York, considering housing supply, income and employment trends, public benefit eligibility levels, rental operating expenses, and inflation in the decision.
• Generally, New York apartments are rent stabilized if they have at least six units and were built before 1974, but some newer buildings qualify through the 421-a and J-51 tax exemption programs.
• Renters can expect rent-stabilized apartments to become even more competitive than ever.

This summer, New York City made history. On June 25, the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) voted 7-1 to set a 0% increase for one-and two-year leases. This is the first-ever freeze on two-year leases in the Board’s history.

For close to one million households, that vote could mean paying the exact same rent for the next two years, a life-changing decision in a city where rents are rising faster than incomes. But the freeze does not apply to every apartment in the city, and the fine print matters. Here’s what to know before you assume it applies to you.

How Does Rent Stabilization Work in NYC?

Rent stabilization is a decades-old system that limits how much a landlord can raise rent on certain apartments each year. It covers roughly one million units across the city, most of them in buildings built before 1974 with six or more units, though some newer buildings qualify through tax incentive programs.

Unlike a market-rate apartment, where a landlord can set rent at whatever the market allows, a stabilized apartment’s rent can only increase by an amount the RGB approves each year. The Board is a panel appointed by the mayor, and it holds public hearings before voting on separate increase percentages for one-year and two-year leases.

Stabilization also comes with protections beyond the rent increase max. Tenants in a stabilized unit are entitled to a renewal offer in most cases, meaning a landlord generally can’t decline to renew a tenant’s lease without a legally valid reason. Rent increases are only permitted at renewal, not in the middle of an active lease term, and any increase must fall within that year’s approved guideline.

This system is different from rent control, an older and much smaller program that applies to a shrinking number of long-term tenancies and caps rent differently. Most regulated apartments in the city today fall under stabilization, not control.

Why Is NYC Freezing Rent?

When setting the yearly rent stabilization rate, the RGB considers housing supply, income and employment trends, changes in public benefit eligibility levels, operating expenses for rentals, and inflation.

Cost burden for renters

According to the Q2 2026 RentPulse Index, New York is the most cost-burdened rental market in the U.S., and Apartments.com reports that the median household income in New York City is currently $71,116. If a renter making that median household income rented a one-bedroom apartment at the city’s average rent of $4,197, they would be spending 70.8% of their income on rent. This is more than double the recommended 30% maximum rent-to-income ratio.

Affordability is always top-of-mind for New Yorkers, and the city has multiple programs in place to help alleviate the impact of rising costs, including the RGB’s yearly rent stabilization guidelines. A complete rent freeze became a hot topic as the citywide average rent for a one-bedroom apartment passed $4,000 this year and the New York metro area’s inflation rate remains above 3%.

Increased operating income for landlords

The RGB found that between 2023 and 2024, rent growth and net operating income (NOI) outpaced income growth in most of the city, with year-over-year NOI increases surpassing 10% in Manhattan neighborhoods like Chelsea and the Upper West Side.

What NYC’s Rent Freeze Actually Changes

Every year, the RGB sets the maximum amount landlords can raise rent on stabilized apartments when a new lease term begins. This year, for the first time, the Board set that number at 0% for both one- and two-year leases. One-year leases have been frozen a handful of times before, but a two-year freeze has never happened.

A 0% adjustment means a landlord cannot raise the rent at all when a covered lease term begins within the freeze window. It doesn’t lower rent, and it doesn’t apply to market rate units.

Victor Rodriguez, CoStar Group’s senior director of market analytics for New York, explains that the RGB’s guidelines on rent-stabilized apartments apply to both new and renewal leases for rent-stabilized units.

“With that said, since vacancy is tight in NYC, and even tighter among rent-stabilized units, it is mostly spoken in renewal terms,” says Rodriguez.

The date that matters more than the vote itself

The freeze is tied to when a renter’s new lease term starts, not to when the Board voted. Order #58, the formal name for this year’s RGB decision, covers rent-stabilized leases beginning between Oct. 1, 2026, and Sept. 30, 2027.

If your lease starts on or after Oct. 1, the freeze applies. If it starts before then, the previous order still applies instead, which allowed up to a 3% increase on one-year leases and a 4.5% increase on two-year leases. The commencement date on your lease, not the date you signed it or received the offer, is what counts.

Rent stabilization vs. NYC Rent Freeze Program

New York City has run a separate benefit, the NYC Rent Freeze Program, for years. It includes the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and the Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE), which covers senior citizens and tenants with disabilities who meet income requirements. SCRIE and DRIE freeze rent for eligible tenants through a property tax credit to the landlord regardless of what the RGB decides in a given year.

The 2026-2027 RGB rent freeze is different. It’s citywide, tied to this specific lease window, and doesn’t require an application, income limit, or age or disability status. If you already receive SCRIE or DRIE, this year’s RGB vote doesn’t change your situation. If you don’t, this freeze may still apply to you based on your apartment and lease dates alone.

Is Your Apartment Rent Stabilized?

Not every apartment in NYC is eligible for the rent freeze.

What is and isn’t covered

The freeze only applies to rent-stabilized apartments, and rent-stabilization itself only applies to certain buildings. In general, your apartment is likely covered if the building has six or more units and was built before 1974. Apartments in newer buildings that receive 421-a or J-51 tax exemptions can also be rent stabilized, even if the building was constructed more recently.

A few unit types fall outside the freeze entirely. Public housing units managed by the New York City Housing Authority, newer constructions or smaller buildings that don’t receive 421-a or J-51 tax exemptions, and units in condos or co-ops aren’t eligible.

How to pull your own rent history

New York State’s Homes and Community Renewal Division keeps a public rent history record for every registered apartment in the city. Search your address, and you can see whether the unit is registered as stabilized and what past legal rents have been on file.

If your building matches the eligibility criteria above but you’re still not sure, ask your landlord or property manager directly whether the apartment is rent stabilized. It’s a fair, direct question, and property owners are required to answer it honestly.

What the 2026-2027 Rent Freeze Means for You

If you’re apartment hunting in New York right now, here are some things to know.

Rent-stabilized units just got more competitive

Rent-stabilized apartments were already in high demand before this vote. Renters who land one tend to hold onto it for years, in part because renewals come with built-in protections that market-rate leases don’t have. A freeze this significant gives current tenants even more reason to stay, which likely means fewer stabilized units turning over for new renters in the year ahead.

"Cost certainty is the most attractive feature of rent-stabilized apartments in a city where market rate units in desirable neighborhoods can face double-digit rent increases."

Victor Rodriguez, Senior Director of Market Analytics in New York, CoStar Group

If you’re searching for a rent-stabilized apartment, be prepared to move quickly when one becomes available, and don’t rely on a listing description alone. Verify the rent-stabilized status directly with the HCR’s building search before you sign anything.

You’re incentivized to stay for longer

Before this year, choosing a two-year renewal over a one-year renewal meant locking in a slightly higher but predictable increase over a longer stretch. Renewing your lease for one year meant a smaller rent increase but taking a gamble on what the next year’s RGB vote will determine.

This year, that trade-off disappears. Both lease lengths carry the same 0% adjustment, so the usual math renters use to weigh a longer lease against a shorter one doesn’t apply to this cycle.

“The rent freeze is largely positive for renters already living in rent-stabilized apartments,” says Rodriguez. “Cost certainty is the most attractive feature of rent-stabilized apartments in a city where market rate units in desirable neighborhoods can face double-digit rent increases.”

If you expect to stay put, locking in a two-year lease removes the guesswork of what next year’s RGB vote decides and guarantees that you’ll pay the same rate for the next two years.

What landlords are saying

Property owners and landlord groups have pushed back on the freeze, arguing that a 0% adjustment doesn’t account for rising costs like insurance, heating, and maintenance. Some have said the decision could reduce how much building owners are able to reinvest in repairs and upkeep over the next two years.

That pushback matters to renters, too. A building that isn’t generating enough income to cover maintenance can mean slower repairs and service requests. Keep an eye on how your building holds up over the freeze period and report maintenance issues sooner rather than later.

What Happens When the Freeze Ends in 2027?

This isn’t a permanent or indefinite freeze; the 0% order only covers lease terms beginning Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027. The RGB meets and votes every year, and a new order will be set for the cycle starting on Oct. 1, 2027.

That means renters currently protected by the freeze should still expect a future increase eventually, after a new lease term begins under the next order. Keep track of next year’s RGB vote well before your lease comes up for renewal so you know what to expect.