On June 30, the NYC Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) voted 5 to 4 to authorize rent increases for the city’s nearly one million rent-stabilized apartments. Under Rent Guidelines Board Order #57, owners may take a 3 percent increase on one-year lease renewals and a 4.5 percent increase on two-year renewals for leases commencing anytime from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026. This year’s adjustments are the fourth consecutive rent hike approved during Mayor Adams’ administration. 

Doug Apple, the newly appointed RGB Chair, acknowledged the difficult balance the board faced in setting this year’s rent guidelines. In his public statement, he emphasized that “there is no simple formula for determining fair rent adjustments” and underscored the pressures of affordability for tenants and financial viability for owners. Data from the RGB’s 2025 Price Index of Operating Costs showed that expenses for owners rose 6.3 percent between April 2024 and March 2025, which is up from a 3.9 percent increase the previous year. RGB staff project a 4.8 percent rise in costs in the year ahead, driven largely by higher insurance premiums, property taxes, and fuel costs.

In addition, the political stakes surrounding the vote were high. Just a week prior, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani surged to the lead in the Democratic mayoral primary on a platform that included a promise to freeze rents. Mamdani called the increase “a cruel and dangerous proposal” and accused the mayor of prioritizing real estate donors. Mayor Adams, while stating he had urged the board to adopt a lower increase, defended the principle of allowing some increase, arguing that a rent freeze would undermine housing conditions by denying owners the means to fund necessary repairs.

What remains unchanged is how the rent increase is calculated. To help you calculate the rent hike you may charge for each of your tenants when you renew a lease, we’ve included a rent increase calculation chart—Apartment Law Insider’s RGBO #57 Rent Computation Form for Renewal Leases (below article). Remember that for renewal leases, you calculate all rent hikes based on the rents charged on Sept. 30, 2025.

Rent Increases Permitted

The RGBO applies to renewal leases for rent-stabilized apartments, beginning anytime on or after Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026. You can take 3 percent on a one-year lease and on two-year leases you can raise rents by 4.5 percent. The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act still bars any separate “vacancy bonus,” so the same percentages apply to vacancy leases if a landlord opts to offer a one- or two-year term.

If Rent Cut in Effect

How do you calculate the rent increase for a renewal lease on an apartment where a Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) order cutting the rent for reduced services was in effect on Sept. 30, 2025? Base the renewal increase under RGBO #57 on what the tenant’s rent was before the DHCR-ordered rent cut. That’s because a rent cut for a reduced service is temporary. When you fix the problem, you can apply to the DHCR to restore the rent. But don’t collect the guidelines increase until after the DHCR restores the rent.

For example, suppose a tenant was paying $1,300 per month when a $200 service-related reduction took effect. Should that tenant sign a two-year renewal starting Jan. 1, 2026, the allowable increase is 4.5 percent of $1,300, even though the tenant will continue to pay the reduced figure until the DHCR issues a restoration order. If you use our Rent Computation Form for Renewal Leases, you would enter $1,300—not $1,100—on line 1 (rent charged for apartment on Sept. 30, 2025). But remember: You may collect the guidelines increase only after you get a rent restoration order.

How to fill out DHCR renewal lease offer form. In New York City, owners must give written notice of renewal by mail or personal delivery not more than 150 days and not less than 90 days before the existing lease expires on a DHCR Renewal Lease Form. You can find the renewal lease form (#RTP-8) at https://hcr.ny.gov/leases#forms.

When a tenant signs the Renewal Lease Form and returns it to the owner, the owner must return the fully signed and dated copy to the tenant within 30 days. A renewal should go into effect on or after the date that it’s signed and returned to the tenant, but no earlier than the expiration date of the current lease. In general, the lease and any rent increase may not begin retroactively.

On the renewal lease offer form, fill out section 2 (which shows your calculation of the rent increase) as if no rent cut is in effect. In section 2, column b, enter the rent that you could have charged on Sept. 30, 2025, if no rent cut had been in effect. Base the rest of your section 2 calculations on the rent you entered in column b. Make sure you check the box at the top of column f, which indicates you’ll be charging the tenant a lower rent than the amount you’ve entered.

Then fill out section 5. Enter the lower rent you’ll be charging the tenant until you get a rent restoration order from the DHCR. Also, check the box that indicates that an agreement is attached to the renewal lease offer form. The agreement is the lease rider discussed in the next paragraph.

Once you get a rent restoration order, you may collect the higher rent listed in section 2, column g, of the renewal lease offer form. To head off tenant confusion and complaints, let the tenant know when and why you’ll be collecting the higher rent. You can add a rider to the renewal lease offer form you send to the tenant. Here’s a sample rider that attorney Karen Schwartz-Sidrane has drafted:

          Model Language

A DHCR rent reduction order is currently in effect; therefore, the tenant will be obligated to pay only the reduced rental in effect pursuant to said order until such time as the DHCR issues an order restoring the rent based upon the restoration of services or upon other grounds. Upon the issuance of said order, the tenant will become obligated to pay the increased rental reserved in this lease, effective as of the date specified in the DHCR’s order.

After the renewal offer is made, the tenant has 60 days to choose a lease term, sign the lease, and return it to the owner. If the tenant doesn’t accept the renewal lease offer within this 60-day period, the owner may refuse to renew the lease and may also proceed in court after the expiration of the current lease, to have the tenant evicted.

If Rent Overcharge Order Issued

What if the DHCR has issued an order finding that you’ve collected a rent overcharge, and that order includes a finding that the rent you charged on Sept. 30, 2025, should have been lower? You must base the increase available to you under RGBO #57 on the lower amount that the DHCR found was the legal rent you could charge on Sept. 30, 2025. If you use our Rent Computation Form for Renewal Leases, enter that lower amount on line 1 of the form.