Housing & Real Estate Data retrieved 2026-07-16
Rent Guidelines Board increases
What the board that sets rent-stabilized increases allowed for one-year leases, every year of the modern era.
3%
for one-year leases starting October 2025 through September 2026 (Order 57)
The record runs from 10% in 1981 to outright freezes in 2015 and 2016.
The numbers behind this chart
| Year | Rent Guidelines Board one-year lease increase |
|---|---|
| 1981 | 10% |
| 1982 | 4% |
| 1983 | 4% |
| 1984 | 6% |
| 1985 | 4% |
| 1986 | 6% |
| 1987 | 3% |
| 1988 | 6% |
| 1989 | 5.5% |
| 1990 | 4.5% |
| 1991 | 4% |
| 1992 | 3% |
| 1993 | 3% |
| 1994 | 2% |
| 1995 | 2% |
| 1996 | 5% |
| 1997 | 2% |
| 1998 | 2% |
| 1999 | 2% |
| 2000 | 4% |
| 2001 | 4% |
| 2002 | 2% |
| 2003 | 4.5% |
| 2004 | 3.5% |
| 2005 | 2.75% |
| 2006 | 4.25% |
| 2007 | 3% |
| 2008 | 4.5% |
| 2009 | 3% |
| 2010 | 2.25% |
| 2011 | 3.75% |
| 2012 | 2% |
| 2013 | 4% |
| 2014 | 1% |
| 2015 | 0% |
| 2016 | 0% |
| 2017 | 1.25% |
| 2018 | 1.5% |
| 2019 | 1.5% |
| 2020 | 0% |
| 2021 | 1.5% |
| 2022 | 3.25% |
| 2023 | 3% |
| 2024 | 2.75% |
| 2025 | 3% |
The key years
What this counts
The annual increase the city's Rent Guidelines Board allows on one-year renewal leases for rent-stabilized apartments, plotted by the October its guideline year begins. One vote a year, roughly a million apartments. The 2021 order phased its increase (0% for the lease's first six months, then 1.5%); the chart shows the 1.5% landing rate for that year.
What it does not say
- Rent-stabilized renewal leases only. Market-rate apartments, rent-controlled units (a separate, older system), and vacancy or improvement increases live outside this series.
- Two-year leases get their own, usually higher, guideline not shown here.
- The chart starts with Order 13 (October 1981), the first on the modern October-to-September calendar. The board has voted since 1969; the earlier orders used July years and fuel surcharges and are in the source chart.
- The guideline is a ceiling on the increase a landlord may take at renewal, not a measure of what tenants actually pay.
The questions New Yorkers actually ask
How much can a rent-stabilized lease go up this year?
For one-year leases starting between October 2025 and September 2026, the guideline is 3% (Order 57). Two-year leases carry a separate guideline.
Has the board ever frozen rents?
Twice on one-year leases: 2015 and 2016, both 0%. The 2020 order was also 0% for the first year of new leases, and the 2021 order held increases to 0% for the lease's first six months before a 1.5% landing rate.
The numbers move. We watch them.
These charts are the long view. The morning brief is the short one: what changed in New York today, what it costs you, and who benefits, in one free read.
Free to start. The unsubscribe link actually works.