Governor Hochul and Advocates Celebrate Landmark Agreement to Address New York’s Housing Crisis

Governor Kathy Hochul today gathered Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, as well as labor, housing, and tenant advocates, to celebrate an historic agreement as part of the FY 2025 Enacted Budget to address New York's housing crisis. The agreement advances policies to increase the housing supply, promote affordability, strengthen protections for New York renters and homeowners, and combat bias and discrimination in housing. The actions build on Governor Hochul's commitment to tackling the housing crisis and reducing housing costs for all New Yorkers.

"Since I became Governor, I've held a vision to build housing that New Yorkers desperately need, and we're celebrating this historic agreement that will transform lives and put working families first," Governor Hochul said. "This housing deal enacts a plan endorsed by unions and a diverse and vibrant coalition of New Yorkers to revolutionize the housing landscape and create the biggest expansion of tenant rights in New York in generations."

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said, "The Senate Democratic Majority and our colleagues in State Government entered this budget knowing it was beyond time to secure a housing deal that directly addresses the challenges families face. We understood that this would not be an easy task; however, this historic package meets the need to develop new, affordable housing, helps safeguard homeowners from foreclosures and squatting situations, and empowers tenants with strong protections like those outlined in the principles of Good Cause. It's exciting to join my fellow public servants, advocates and Labor in celebrating this milestone, but we are aware that significant work remains. I thank my partners in state government-Governor Hochul, Speaker Heastie, and our incredible State Senators in the Majority-for their collaboration and I look forward to achieving more together."

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said, "The Assembly Majority has a long history of fighting to make safe, affordable housing accessible for New Yorkers. The provisions we pass in this budget will provide critical protections for renters and homeowners, create new housing stock and invest in affordable housing across the state with programs like the New York Housing for the Future. This new program will create affordable housing for those looking to rent as well as to become homeowners, and together with the investments made in programs like NYCHA and Mitchell Lama will help more families find safe, affordable housing."

Increasing New York's Housing Supply

As part of the FY 2025 Enacted Budget, Governor Hochul has secured a package of programs and initiatives to create new housing, including affordable housing, in New York City. The Budget includes the new 485-x tax incentive, a ten-year program building on the now-expired 421-a incentive program, which provides benefits for housing construction while encouraging affordability and delivering strengthened wage standards for building service and construction workers, where applicable. According to estimates, the 421-a program produced more than two-thirds of all newly constructed multifamily housing in the City in the last decade.

The Budget also extends the construction deadline for projects currently vested in the expired 421-a program through 2031, ensuring thousands of previously at-risk rental units, including affordable housing, can be built. In addition, the Budget establishes a new tax incentive for commercial conversion projects that include affordable housing, grants the authority to lift state restrictions on residential density in New York City for the first time since the 1960s while requiring affordability, and authorizes the City to create a pilot program to provide amnesty to existing basement and cellar apartments that meet health and safety standards to be set by the City in certain New York City neighborhoods.

For localities outside of New York City, the Budget includes an opt-in tax incentive program for mixed-income and 100 percent affordable new construction or conversion multifamily rental projects, and an incentive to create accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The Budget also requires the State's Fire Prevention and Building Code Council to study ways to amend the code to facilitate alternative forms of multi-family housing.

Governor Hochul has also secured funding for a $500 million capital fund to develop up to 15,000 units of housing on state sites across New York. The Governor announced the Redevelopment of Underutilized Sites for Housing initiative in her 2024 State of the State after signing an executive order last year requiring all state agencies to examine properties within their control to determine their housing potential. Sites will become available on an individual basis as the state issues requests for proposals to develop them.

In addition, Governor Hochul has reached an agreement to strengthen New York's Pro-Housing Communities program by enabling the State to make the Pro-Housing Communities certification a requirement to receive up to $650 million in state discretionary funding. The Governor announced the Pro-Housing Communities Program last year as part of a package of Executive Actions to increase New York's housing supply to recognize and reward municipalities actively working to unlock their housing potential and encourage others to follow suit. To date, 179 localities have launched applications to become Pro-Housing Communities and 49 communities have been certified.

The FY 2025 Enacted Budget will further take action to help bring vacant apartments back on the rental market by raising the cap on individual apartment improvements for rent stabilized units. New requirements to the system will allow owners to recoup a reasonable portion of renovation costs over a 15-year period, which will help maintain the supply of safe, modernized rent stabilized units. The Budget also provides $40 million in capital to assist bringing back online vacant apartments in need of repair outside of New York City.

Strengthening Protections for Tenants and Homeowners

Governor Hochul has also secured historic anti-price gouging and eviction protections for New York renters as part of the FY 2025 Enacted Budget. The Budget makes annual rent increases above ten percent or five percent plus the Consumer Price Index (whichever is lower) presumptively unreasonable to protect tenants against price gouging and strengthens legal protections for covered renters in eviction proceedings, where applicable. These protections will be mandatory in New York City; municipalities outside of New York City will have the ability to opt-in to the program. Separately, Governor Hochul reached an agreement to reinforce existing law to make clear that squatters are not tenants, and thus are not entitled to these and other tenant protections.

In addition, the Governor has strengthened protections for homeowners against deed theft by creating a clear definition of the crime of deed theft in the larceny statute and by limiting the ability of predatory investors to acquire interests in inherited property and to pressure homeowners into selling their family homes. These protections will help enhance enforcement and keep New Yorkers in their homes. To further prevent loss, the Governor has introduced a Transfer on Death Deed, which will enable homeowners to be certain their home will be protected after their passing, without the necessity of drafting a formal will.

Combatting Bias and Discrimination in Housing

As part of the FY 2025 Enacted Budget, Governor Hochul has also advanced legislation to prohibit insurance carriers from inquiring about or considering tenants' source of income, the existence of affordable dwelling units, or the receipt of governmental housing assistance in the decision to issue or continue to provide insurance for residential real property. This new legislation will help ensure affordable housing providers have access to reasonably-priced insurance, which in turn will help avoid rent increases on tenants.

The Governor will also establish a new enforcement unit dedicated to swift resolution of complaints about housing discrimination related to Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, helping to place impacted individuals and families in available housing to which they had been impermissibly denied access based on their vouchers.

Additional Capital Investments

In addition to advancing major policy actions, the FY 2025 Enacted Budget also includes more than $600 million in capital funding to support housing statewide, including but not limited to:

• $150 million for New York Housing for the Future to subsidize construction of cooperative rental and cooperative homeownership 100% affordable housing.
• $140 million for capital improvements of New York City Housing Authority developments.
• $80 million for capital improvements for Mitchell-Lamas.
• $75 million for capital improvements of public housing authorities outside of New York City.
• $50 million for Land Banks to redevelop blighted or abandoned properties.
• $40 million for capital awards to upgrade vacant rental units outside of New York City.
• $40 million for Infill Housing to fund development of small homes within unused and underutilized lands with existing development patterns.
• $10 million for capital improvements of rural housing subsidized by the Federal USDA 515 program.
• $25.5 million in other one-time capital assistance projects.

New York City Mayor Eric Adamssaid, "When we came into office two years ago, we had a mission: protect public safety, rebuild our economy, and make this city more livable for hardworking New Yorkers. Making our city more livable means building more affordable housing for more people. We are proud of our administration's progress on building a record number of affordable homes last year, and thanks to Governor Hochul and our partners in Albany, we can now go even further. We had one simple message for our partners in Albany: let us build - and they listened. With this new set of proposals slated to become law, including all of our legislative priorities, we can do just that and begin to build ourselves out of this housing crisis."

New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said, "New Yorkers are facing a severe housing shortage that demands urgent and comprehensive action to ensure they can afford to remain in their homes. Through the adopted state budget, New York City will now be better positioned to build more affordable homes and convert commercial buildings to housing. We appreciate the work of our partners in state government and all stakeholders who have contributed to advancing this budget."

Assemblymember Alex Bores said, "We need to get out of the nightmare where the only way to afford a home in New York is by winning a lottery: either the birth lottery, a housing lottery, or Mega Millions. To do that, we need to build. While the state budget housing package will benefit people of all ages, it is particularly helpful to young people wondering if the State (and City) will be an affordable place for them to settle down and build a family. This package commits resources to directly funding both private housing and homes built on State land; it protects tenants from rent gouging; it provides incentives for localities to make their zoning codes more pro-housing, and it cracks down on fraud and abuse. The cost of inaction in this realm was far too high. I commend the Governor, legislative leaders, and my colleagues for putting together a package that marks a big step forward."

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. said, "There's only one way out of the affordable housing crisis our city faces - building. I'm proud that Queens continues to lead New York City in affordable housing production, but with countless families living on the sharp edge of poverty, it's never been clearer that much more must be done to grow our affordable housing stock. I'm deeply grateful to Governor Hochul for her commitment to building and preserving affordable housing in Queens and all across the state. I look forward to our continued partnership with her administration as we move with the urgency of now to rapidly expand our housing stock."

New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskassaid, "Governor Hochul's commitment to housing is unmatched. These groundbreaking measures provide solutions that have eluded New York for generations. The policies and hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding included in this budget will jumpstart the production of housing, protect the ability of tenants and homeowners to live safely and affordably in the communities of their choice, and better enable housing developers and localities across the State to provide the homes that New Yorkers desperately need. While we celebrate this accomplishment, we also understand this represents one of the many steps it will take to adequately address the housing affordability crisis and we look forward to a continued partnership with the Legislature to come up with long-term solutions."

32BJ SEIU President Manny Pastreich said, "Servicing New York's buildings shouldn't mean sacrificing your ability to live in them because rent is too high. With good wages for workers, smart tools to incentivize more housing supply and strong good cause tenant protections, this housing agreement is a major step toward righting the wrongs of New York's affordability crisis. The middle-ground approach we advocated for helped us find the path to a housing ecosystem that allows New Yorkers across all income levels to live, work, and raise their families where they belong - in New York. We applaud Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Heastie, and all the elected officials, unions, and partners in progress that worked together to build this new foundation for a more affordable New York."

NY Building CongressPresident & CEO Carlo A. Scissura said, "With the passage of the FY25 budget, the Governor and the Legislature have demonstrated their commitment to breaking down barriers to affordable residential development and tackling New York's housing crisis head on. Last year, New York City alone saw annual projections for new units staggeringly drop from 30,000 to just over 11,000. By allocating funding to the Affordable Neighborhoods for New Yorkers program and enabling the removal of antiquated barriers on ADUs and the 12 FAR cap, the State will be able to build housing that New Yorkers can actually afford to live in while also creating good-paying job opportunities for the workers who build and maintain it. On behalf of the Building Congress, I am proud to say that our members are ready to get shovels in the ground to build our way to a more affordable, more equitable future, and we applaud the Governor for taking this effort through the finish line."

New York Housing ConferenceExecutive Director Rachel Fee said, "This budget is a significant achievement for affordability, livability and opportunity for New Yorkers. We commend Governor Hochul and the State Legislature for advancing solutions to New York's affordable housing crisis by enacting various new policies and programs relating to tax, zoning and budget resources that will help expand our housing supply. The New York Housing Conference will continue to work alongside our partners in government to build on this work until every New Yorker has access to the safe, decent and affordable housing they deserve."

Citizens Housing & Planning Council Executive Director Howard Slatkin said, "This year's state budget agreement puts New York on a footing to make meaningful headway against our housing supply and affordability crisis. Only by adding mixed-income rental housing throughout New York City and the region will we be able to address housing insecurity and unaffordability. The next necessary step will be action from the City to address urgent housing needs, including zoning reforms like City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, and launching a basement apartment legalization program. We appreciate the Governor's steadfast advocacy of solutions that get at the root causes of our housing problems."

New York State Association for Affordable Housing CEO and President Jolie Milstein said, "This budget furthers the commitment Governor Hochul and the State Legislature made to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to safe, decent, and affordable housing. It maintains crucial capital funding levels and delivers new first-time initiatives to increase the housing supply. It also removes barriers to affordable housing production by addressing insurance discrimination, lifting limiting zoning requirements in New York City, and furthering needed tax incentives in exchange for providing tenants with long term affordability. There is no single solution to solving the statewide housing supply crisis, but this budget clears prohibitive policies, and is a significant step forward that we look forward to working with the Governor and lawmakers to build upon."

The Community Preservation Corporation President and CEO Rafael Cestero said, "I applaud the State's budget deal, which will equip New York City and State with the tools needed to jumpstart a new wave of housing development. The new 485-x incentive, in addition to the other housing initiatives in the deal, comes not a moment too soon, and will finally get more homes built for New Yorkers. While there's more work to do, I am encouraged to see our leaders in Albany taking needed action to address this historic housing crisis."

Governor Hochul's Housing Agenda

The FY 2025 Enacted Budget builds on Governor Hochul's commitment to addressing New York's housing crisis to make the state more affordable and more livable for all New Yorkers. As part of the FY 2023 Budget, the Governor announced a five-year, $25 billion Housing Plan, to create and preserve 100,000 affordable homes. More than 40,000 homes have been built to date.

Contact the Governor's Press Office