NY Sun: Subsidized Housing Sucks
Never accused of being liberal, the New York Sun has an editorial today about building residential space at ground zero that references the affordable housing variable in the Atlantic Yards equation: As the tragedy of Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn shows, once the “affordable housing” pressure groups and their allies in the Bloomberg administration get done…
Never accused of being liberal, the New York Sun has an editorial today about building residential space at ground zero that references the affordable housing variable in the Atlantic Yards equation:
As the tragedy of Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn shows, once the “affordable housing” pressure groups and their allies in the Bloomberg administration get done chewing up and spitting out a proposed residential development in this city, the result is that private developers are forced to create new subsidized units. These create all the same problems that the state has been trying, however slowly, to phase out in rent-regulation in New York, such as empty-nesters holding on to absurdly under-priced three-bedroom apartments, landlords with little incentive to improve their properties, tenants with little incentive to move into the free market for housing, even if they can afford it.
Something tells us JoshK might agree.
Apartments at Ground Zero? [New York Sun]
Josh there is something that landlords (me inc) have to contemplate and that is there is a ‘societal’ component to housing that doesnt exist in other areas of the economy where the free market can be the sole control – for example I am not so sure that it desirable to have entire neighborhood have rents radically change from 1yr to the next due to the newest definition of ‘hip’.
There is some benefit from a societal point of view to giving residents some assurance as to the maximum rent can be increased yr over yr – this provides a stability of neighborhood that society has an interest in protecting.
Additionally if a tenant is paying market rent and pays on time and obeys the general rules of the building – is it approriate to allow a landlord to refuse to renew simply b/c maybe a more desirable tenant (one w/o kids for example) comes along.
Now dont get me wrong the current system is insane especially in terms of controlling rent levels on vacant apartments and the inability to refuse to renew leases to perpetually late paying troublemakers (not to mention simply being unable to evict dangerous, nusance or non paying tenants) BUT there might be more to this than simply – let the market rule!
this is an interseting post because usually in this never ending debate you have a group of landlords and a few nut job libertain types screaming that rents are high in NYC because of RS and RC and if you end it, rents will drop. That argument never made any sense to me because why would a landlord want rent to drop?
But davids points actually make some rational sense. good job.
Babs I think your predictions on an immediate end to Rent Controls are overblown – in reality most apartments in the outer boros are already effectively decontrolled due to the fact that the market rent is below the stabilized rent.
In more expensive markets the real crazy low rents would immeditly disappear but given the number of immediatly vacant apartments (no point in holding onto a leashold @ mkt rate unless you really live there or want to live there) the average rent might actually fall in many places.
Personally as a landlord of rent stabilized apts I actually LIKE rent stabilization, sure like ‘thenoseknows’ I have a few ridiculous rent tenants, but by refinancing and plowing the $ bac into the building for buildingwide and vacancy MCIs (Major Capital improvements) I am able to get the RR up pretty good and the best part is that the City sort of guarantees me an increase on my market rate apts each year.This is b/c rent stabilized tenants are programmed to accept the increases of the Rent Stab Board. So when a $1000/mo 1br tenant (this is high market in most of my buildings) gets the stabilization renewall form it almost looks like my increases are mandated by god. Now if a tenant called and asked for no increase I might very well grant that (assuming the tenant was a good one) but I would say less than 1% of tenants do.
The FREE MARKET is the only FAIR MARKET!
If you can only afford to pay $500 a month rent, move to Allentown, PA or some other cheap city.
IT MAKES NO SENSE THAT LANDLORDS ARE FORCED TO SUBSIDIZE LONG TERM TENANTS!
COMMUNISM IS FAR MORE JUST THAN RENT CONTROL!
Property Taxes are going through the roof. I currently pay $60,000 a year in property taxes for a 20 unit building in which half the tenants pay between $130 and $650 a month?
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?
This article is 15 years old, but still explains a lot about the housing situation in NYC.
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa132.html
It’s worth noting that Boston is one of the cities mentioned as having housing problems similar to NYC. Since this was written, however, Boston has tried a different tactic: trickle-down housing. The theory was that, instead of building lower-quality “affordable” housing, developers should be allowed to build luxury housing to their hearts’ content. With a glut of luxury housing, the prices will not be prohibitively expensive, and people who can afford it will jump at the chance to own nicer places. This will “trickle down” in that everyone will move up a level, and the people at the low end housing-wise will also get to move up to something better in their price range. There are strong indications that this theory is working.
ratnerville you are only seeing half the picture, sheeesh, we have ALL of prospect park to develop. Its primo land just sitting there waiting to be used, we would not even have to knock down any buildings to use it. Come on now, your not even trying…..
Wait, you are telling me some people CHOOSE to live in Jersey? I’m sorry, but that’s hard for me to believe. 😛
STOP.
Some people are forced to live in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey.
Some people choose to live in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey.
There are expensive and inexpensive places in Mahanttan, Brooklyn and New Jersey
There should be affordable housing for seniors. Affordable housing for everyone else should be monitored extensively.
Subsidized tenants cannot take in boarders and charge them rent.
Income and assests of all residents should be checked. If someone makes 20,000/year but was awarded 900,000 for eating lead paint they can afford to live in market rate housing.
There should be a forced turnover. Term limits for subsidized housing.