Almost 200,000 of the city's rent-regulated tenants are more than two months behind on rent payments and owe about $1.1 billion in total, according to a survey from the Community Housing Improvement Program.
The amount of residential tenants more than two months behind in rent has increased by more than 300% since before the pandemic hit in February, according to the survey. And although the federal stimulus bill passed at the end of 2020 includes $1.3 billion in funding for New York rent relief, CHIP's survey demonstrates that this will not be enough to solve the problem, according to Executive Director Jay Martin.
“These numbers show that renters and housing providers will need more relief, either from the federal government or through creative strategies on the state level even after this initial allocation of relief,” he said.
The average renter who has fallen behind owes about $6,200, the survey states. Average monthly rent for a stabilized apartment was about $1,400 as of 2018, according to the Rent Guidelines Board, putting the average tenant about 4.5 months behind on payments.
And about 5.6% of tenants are more than $15,000 in arrears, meaning they likely have not paid rent in more than 11 months–essentially since the pandemic began.
CHIP’s survey also found that the vacancy rate for the city was 11.8% when including apartments that have not been listed for rent because of a glut of supply or a need for renovations. The most recent Douglas Elliman report on Manhattan rentals found that the borough's December vacancy rate was about 5.5%, but housing experts have cautioned that the true vacancy rate could be much higher based on landlords not listing all of their empty units.
CHIP represents landlords of more than 400,000 units of rent-regulated housing, and the group based its survey on the responses of members who represent about 40,000 units.
The state launched a $100 million rent relief program last year meant to help tenants who had fallen behind on rent payments because of the pandemic, but the program came under heavy criticism for being inadequate, especially following an October report that showed it had only distributed about $23.2 million in funding to 9,600 households.
The Division of Homes and Community Renewal reopened the program in mid-December through Feb. 1 and broadened its eligibility requirements in an attempt to get more relief money out the door.
State officials also passed a bill at the end of 2020 banning Covid-related evictions and foreclosures until May 1 for tenants and small landlords provided they submit a “hardship declaration” stating that the pandemic has hit them with financial or health problems.
“The government has mandated that owners provide housing without compensation throughout the public health crises regardless of the renters’ ability to pay,” Martin said. “Our owners have done their part. Now the government must do their part to pay for the cost of housing 10s of thousands of people."
"behind" - Google News
January 15, 2021 at 02:45AM
https://ift.tt/39E5wT0
Rent-regulated tenants more than $1.1B behind on payments: survey - Crain's New York Business
"behind" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YqUhZP
https://ift.tt/2yko4c8
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Rent-regulated tenants more than $1.1B behind on payments: survey - Crain's New York Business"
Post a Comment