New York City Rent Stabilization Policy Benefits Tenants with Longer Tenancies

By NLIHC Research Team  

A new study published in Urban Studies, “Housing Affordability and Rent Control: The Case of Elderly Renters,” examines the impacts of New York City’s rent stabilization policy. The authors find that rent stabilization benefits elderly tenants due to their longer lengths of tenancy. With rent stabilization units, tenants experience a cap on rent growth, the benefits of which accumulate over years of tenancy as otherwise similar market rate units are subject to larger rent increases. This is an important distinction from an equity perspective, as elderly tenants with housing instability, and thus shorter tenancies, are more likely to be racial minorities, immigrants, or those with low levels of education and income The authors argue that these tenants ultimately experience less financial benefit from the rent stabilization policy.  

Utilizing longitudinal data from the New York City Housing Vacancy Survey, the authors observe significant differences in the characteristics of elderly and non-elderly tenants and how they benefit from rent stabilization. Elderly tenants earn, on average, $35,000 annually compared to $74,000 for those younger than 65 years old. Unsurprisingly, 76% of elderly tenants are housing cost-burdened compared to 49% of non-elderly tenants. The authors also observe an apparent “elderly advantage,” noting that over 71% of elderly tenants reside in rent-stabilized properties, with an average monthly discount of $672 per month compared to 55% of non-elderly tenants, who experience an average monthly rent discount of $364. 

The “elderly advantage,” however, disappears after controlling for other factors like housing attributes, borough fixed effects, health, and housing stability. In particular, when comparing elderly and non-elderly tenants with similar lengths of tenancy, elderly renters are less likely to reside in rent-stabilized units. Additionally, the researchers analyzed the average rent discount between the two groups. After controlling for other factors like length of tenancy, the researchers found no relationship between a tenant being elderly and the rent discount they received. The “elderly advantage” of being more likely to live in a rent-stabilized unit and receiving greater rent discounts is essentially a “stability premium” driven by an accumulation of rent savings over long-term tenancies, as unregulated market rents continue to rise.   

These findings indicate that the most significant benefits of New York City’s rent stabilization policy don’t accrue to elderly tenants so much as they accrue to longer-term tenants. Elderly tenants experiencing housing instability, and who thus have shorter tenancies, are disproportionately people of color, immigrants, and low-income. Providing greater support to these tenants to stabilize their tenancies would help them benefit more from rent stabilization and make the policy more equitable.  

Read the article here.