Big and small measures are required to expand the number of units for New Yorkers

Everyone agrees: We’re in the midst of a housing crisis.

But in Albany, taking even a step toward a solution seemed too overwhelming. Lawmakers left the Capitol without taking action, hampering our ability to create affordable housing and perpetuating the challenges of homelessness and housing insecurity. Was a couple dozen new rental units near MTA stations in the suburbs too much to ask for?

It’s time to put an end to the political posturing and petty squabbling that’s turned this crisis into a zero-sum game. What we really need is an all-of-the-above approach. And we need it immediately.

Let’s look at our dramatic shortage of affordable rental homes. We’re facing a perfect storm of large-scale issues: skyrocketing maintenance expenses, reduction in rent collections, well-meaning but ultimately harmful policies that restrict landlords from raising rents even at standard-of-living levels, massive lack of new supply, sky-rocketing rents, and high interest rates.

These aren’t just post-COVID problems — we’ve been sounding the alarm this could happen since the new rent-regulation laws passed in 2019. The pandemic exacerbated an already precarious situation.

Occupancy levels across New York City remain high, putting upward pressure on rents, not just in Manhattan, but all over the city as the number of people moving in outpaces housing creation. Additionally, area median income (AMI) levels, which are used to set rents for affordable housing, have gone up, meaning even subsidized “affordable” rents have risen. And while rental assistance vouchers are available, many go unused due to bureaucratic red tape.

Finally, some tenants, unafraid of eviction, are contributing to dangerously low rent collection levels. Today, buildings that are 99% occupied have collections hovering below 90% — compared to historic averages of 97-98%. This is a significant drop in rental revenue, especially for smaller, rent-stabilized buildings.

Simultaneously, loans supporting many multifamily assets are approaching expiration and will need to refinance. In the past, refinancing was a relief valve for property owners, allowing them to access savings as debt matured. But current high interest rates eliminate the opportunity to save, putting more pressure on owners. Add increased expenses, and the results are predictable: cutbacks in regular maintenance and delayed system upgrades will yield a building stock with deep physical and financial problems. Tenants, many of whom already are vulnerable, and property owners, will both suffer.

The legislative session just concluded was a missed opportunity, but the housing crisis isn’t going away.

Some fixes require new legislation, while others are purely bureaucratic.

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The drop in rent collections isn’t just a refusal to pay rent, it’s government’s inability to get existing resources out the door. Rental assistance vouchers are a perfect example of bureaucratic problems that we could fix immediately. Applying for a voucher and recertifying every year is overly time consuming and complex for both tenants who need them, owners who accept them, and the government agencies administering them.

That’s right — we could help more people pay rent, and owners pay bills and maintain their properties, if only the process wasn’t so unnecessarily hard. It shouldn’t be a question of “if,” but how quickly government can streamline this process.

On the legislative side, we need a robust tax abatement program for rehabilitating and renovating rent-stabilized buildings. The 2019 laws restricting owners from raising rents even moderately to cover the costs of repairs and upgrades, coupled with last year’s expiration of the old abatement program, means stabilized owners have no way to cover the cost of maintaining their properties. This new program must keep pace with rising costs and provide for renovations. Without it, living conditions in these buildings will further decline.

The voucher issue and rehabilitation tax abatement both could’ve been resolved, but were victims of New York’s political paralysis instead.

These nonsensical fights over which half-measure is the one true solution need to end. We must accept that the scale of the housing crisis necessitates an all-of-the-above approach that provides relief to everyone — and similarly will require compromises from everyone.

New York has the expertise, ingenuity, resources, and partners — private sector, non-profit, and grassroots — to get things done. Let’s fix the voucher issue. Let’s reinstate a rehab incentive. Let’s come up with a new program to incentivize affordable housing creation. Let’s strengthen tenant protections. Let’s do it all. Because New York’s current do-nothing approach is working for no one.

Cestero, a former commissioner of the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development, is CEO of the Community Preservation Corp. and co-host of The Housing Problem podcast.