Rent Regulation After 50 Years

Prologue

Rent Regulation in New York has been one of the most frequently contested, hotly debated and enduring public policy issues of the past half century. It has survived wars, persisted during economic expansions and contractions and continued under Democratic and Republican administrations. While a constant source of frustration to the regulated and the regulators, it exists because of a chronic shortage of rental housing.

"Rent Regulation After 50 Years" provides, for the first time, detailed statistical information from the Division of Housing and Community Renewal's rent registration and case processing data bases. This data graphically depicts the current state of New York's rent regulatory system affecting 2.5 million tenants in more than 1 million privately-owned housing accommodations in New York City and in municipalities in Nassau, Westchester, Rockland, and several upstate counties.

These sources provide incomparable data on the location, rent levels and administrative interactions with owners and tenants as well as the bedrock of information upon which the debate concerning affordability and profitability, mobility and stability, governability and bureaucracy can continue on firmer factual ground. The statistical data does not provide information on social factors or profit margins. Therefore, the report purposely does not tackle the highly controversial issues of economic benefits and burdens of the rent regulatory systems.