New York's Progressive Rent Regulations Having the Exact Same Negative Consequence That Skeptics Predicted. New York told landlords they couldn't pass along renovation costs, so landlords stopped doing renovations

Reason ^ | January 27, 2020 | Christian Britschgi

[karpov]

When the New York legislature passed major changes to the state's rent regulations in June 2019, critics warned the new law would reduce investment in, and renovations of, rental properties in New York City. Six months later, those predictions are bearing out.

Bloomberg reported this morning that sales of apartment buildings in the Big Apple fell by 36 percent in 2019, and that the money spent on those sales fell by 40 percent. The prices investors were paying for rent-stabilized units—where allowable rent increases are set by the government and usually capped at around 1 or 2 percent per year—fell by 7 percent.

"The fact that there's no correlation between the amount you put into a building and the amount of rent you can charge has completely shifted investment interest in rent-stabilized buildings," Shimon Shkury, president of the brokerage Ariel Property Advisors, told Bloomberg.

Shkury was referring to provisions of the state's 2019 rent regulations that make it much more difficult to pass along the costs of apartment renovations (such as adding a new oven) and major capital improvements (such as adding a new roof) to tenants.

That law also eliminated landlords' ability to "deregulate" (that is, charge market rates) for rent-stabilized apartments once rents reach certain levels. There are about a million rent-stabilized units in New York City.

In addition to a decline in sales, landlords are reportedly cutting back on the money that they're putting into the buildings that they do own.

According to a January survey conducted by the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP)—a trade association representing owners of rent-stabilized buildings in New York City—69 percent of building owners have cut their spending on apartment upgrades by more than 75 percent since the passage of the state's rent regulations.

[karpov]

When landlords don't maintain their rent-controlled properties, they will be vilified as "slumlords".

[Leaning Right]

New York should just pass a law forcing landlords to do renovations.

/s

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Why those selfish CAPITALIST landlords!

[I want the USA back]

Then the land owners get sued for not doing things. What’s happening here, is that the left hates private property. They can’t confiscate it quite yet (but will begin as soon as a sanders or a warren is inaugurated). They chip away at the rights of owners until one day we realize that we don’t really own the property - that we are paying taxes and insurance on it, but we don’t have to right to use it as we wish.

[Red Badger]

How about ‘demolitions’?.......................

[Red Badger]

It’s that way now....................

[reg45]

Then the New York State legislature will take overall the rent controlled units and the city will manage them. DeBlasio’s Dream!

[Savage Beast]

"New York told landlords they couldn't pass along renovation costs, so landlords stopped doing renovations"

THE CURSE OF INTELLIGENCE: HAVING TO WATCH THE MORONS TRY EVERYTHING YOU KNOW WON'T WORK.

This is why Karl Marx himself acknowledged that a brutal worldwide dictatorship would be necessary to establish the communist workers' paradise.

[Kickass Conservative]

But, but, Minica’s Apartment on Friends was really nice...

[EagleUSA]

*** STUPID IS, AS STUPID DOES ***

Nothing is going to change that, no matter how hard the Marxist Rats try...

[Drango]

DUH

[Renkluaf]

Consequences mean nothing; it’s intentions that are important.

[DeFault User]

The city can manage them and the residents can enjoy the charm of Old Havana. Just lovely.

[Herodes]

A big smile on my face as NY residents get exactly what they voted for...

Happy days!

[proxy_user]

However, the bulk of the units in New York City are now owned by the people who live in them. They have to bill themselves for renovations, and many of them are also not too eager to tackle these projects.

[From The Deer Stand]

Businessmen and women are always smarter than politicians. This has been proven countless times.

[goldbux]

Title: You don't "do renovations." You renovate as a transitive verb.

[PGR88]

I know a person who has been living in a rent-controlled apartment in NY City for the last 30 years. They are in a constant cat-and-mouse game with the landlords, who are desperately trying to get her out. Its even more ironic that the latest building owners are an investment group from China.

Anyway, the state of the building looks like nothing has been done since the 1880s, when it was built.

[1_Rain_Drop]

If “they” would stop raising property taxes, then rents wouldn’t be as high. “They” decide what the income from rents are as well as expenses. Based on those fictitious figures, “they” raise the taxes. Funny thing is, in order to receive the rents that they claim homeowners get, the current rents would have to be tripled. Oh, and “they” ignore that there are still rent controlled apartments. Those have the worst tenants and pay the least rent . A landlord can’t evict those tenants unless a buy-out is done.

[mjp]

we don’t have to right to use it as we wish.

= fascism