Housing

FPI Testifies to the Rent Guidelines Board

Rent Guidelines Board votes to lower range of possible rent increases for 2-year leases Download the Slides Watch the Testimony Last Thursday, FPI’s Chief Economist, Emily Eisner, testified to the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) of New York City, at the invitation of one of the Board’s Tenant members, Adán Soltren. Dr. Eisner's testimony made the case that current economic conditions and uncertainty regarding federal housing and safety-net policy demand that the RGB [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-05-28T09:46:01-04:00May 28th, 2025|Economic Trends & Policy, Housing, Testimony|

FPI’s Fiscal Year 2026 Enacted Budget Briefing

FPI presented a briefing on the New York State budget for fiscal year 2026.

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-05-14T00:57:42-04:00May 9th, 2025|Featured on Home, Healthcare, Housing, Policy & Research, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy, Transit|

Preventing a NYCHA Budget Crisis

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) houses over 500,000 New Yorkers and receives a majority of its funding from the federal government, leaving it especially at risk of impending federal budget cuts. New York State must be prepared to fill gaps in both the operating funding and capital funding for NYCHA.

Emily Eisner2025-04-08T17:01:00-04:00April 8th, 2025|City Budget, Housing, Policy & Research, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy, State Budget|

What to Expect in the Budget: Housing Policy

The fiscal year 2026 budget cycle is upon us and “affordability” is taking center stage. The mandate to address the rapidly rising cost-of-living in New York has never been more urgent, with consumer prices up about 20 percent since 2020. The cost of housing, in particular, has skyrocketed in the years since the Covid-19 pandemic, with home prices up over 50 percent—making housing costs the number one priority for addressing affordability in New York.

Emily Eisner2025-01-31T14:33:57-05:00January 20th, 2025|Housing, State Budget|

Governor Hochul’s Affordability Policy Report Card

Governor Hochul’s State of the State address made clear that “affordability” is her top priority this session. As part of her agenda, Governor Hochul and her team have put forward a set of policies intended to “put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets.” The four major proposals include a tax cut, an “inflation rebate payment,” an expansion of the child tax credit, and fully funding free school lunches for all public-school students in the State.

Emily Eisner2025-01-18T11:20:10-05:00January 18th, 2025|Housing, State Budget|

Financing Affordable Multi-Family Housing Development

A Primer for State and Local Policymakers

Emily Eisner2025-04-21T17:41:12-04:00October 29th, 2024|Housing|

This Year’s Housing Debate

Housing has again become a key area of negotiations in the current budget cycle. This year’s executive budget laid out a far narrower plan to address New York’s housing affordability crisis than last year’s budget proposal. Meanwhile, the Senate brought forward a new set of housing policy recommendations in its one-house budget proposal, attempting to comprehensively address the housing supply and affordability issues that currently plague the state. But what are these proposals — and are they enough to address New York’s housing crisis?

Emily Eisner2024-12-18T16:04:38-05:00March 26th, 2024|Featured on Home, Housing, Policy & Research, State Budget, Tax & Budget|

Housing Costs, Not Taxes, Drive Migration out of New York

The typical family that moves out of New York State saves 15 times more from lower housing costs than they do from lower taxes. Of the top twenty largest county-to-county moves out of New York State, annual mortgage costs are on average $18,300, or 34 percent, lower outside New York.

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:18-04:00January 31st, 2023|Housing, Migration, Must Read, Tax Policy|

New York State’s Tenants Need Immediate Relief

December 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated New York State’s affordable housing crisis. This year’s high unemployment has most affected our state’s minimum wage workers and gig economy workers and has intersected with our state’s lack of safe, decent, and affordable rentals, particularly for those earning at or below 50 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). To help struggling renters and protect public health, the state legislature passed the Emergency Rent Relief Act of 2020 on May 28, 2020. It created a $100 million [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:24-04:00December 18th, 2020|Blog, Housing|

Robust Rental Assistance Needed to Protect Tenants

August 2020 Download the full brief Governor Cuomo has extended the state’s limited eviction moratorium until September 4, 2020 but the application window for the state’s $100 million COVID Rent Relief program closed on August 6, 2020. Many of New York State’s renters require assistance above and beyond the programs and protections currently in place. The COVID Rent Relief program has limitations. It will only provide up to four months of rental assistance for those earning below 80 percent of the area median income (AMI [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:26-04:00August 26th, 2020|Blog, Housing, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|