Good Intentions Are Not Enough: The Reasons Why the 'Rents Are Too Damn High'

New York Real Estate Practice Group Leader Stuart Saft published an article in N.Y. Real Property Law Journal, a publication of the New York State Bar Association's Real Property Law Section, exploring the issue of rising rents and revealing the true reasons behind elevated housing costs. Mr. Saft contends that lawmakers – not landlords – are to blame for ever-rising rental rates and ever-decreasing affordable housing supply, contrasting legislation enacted today that exacerbates the problem with reforms passed in the 1920s that created meaningful change and enabled more construction. His article traces the history of rent regulation and real estate legislation in the century since, breaking down why more recent initiatives such as the Rent Control Law, Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA) and Good Cause Eviction Law have failed to achieve their intended purpose of ending New York's housing crisis. He also details issues with housing subsidies and property taxes that have pushed developers out of the state before proposing solutions that can ease costs for landowners and builders and put the area back on track for financially viable housing projects.

READ: Good Intentions Are Not Enough: The Reasons Why the 'Rents Are Too Damn High' (Membership required)