Op-Ed By Alana Ciuffetelli, the Chair of Apartment Owners Advisory Council (AOAC), The Builders Institute of Westchester and The Mid-Hudson Region, Inc.
This year, Westchester’s Rent Guidelines Board approved rent increases of just 2% for one-year leases and 3% for two-year leases. On paper, these may seem reasonable in a time of affordability concerns. But in practice, they fall far short of what’s needed to sustain the county’s rent-stabilized housing — and the small property owners working to maintain it.
Behind each rent-stabilized building is an owner facing escalating costs: property insurance premiums have skyrocketed, utility bills are up, and material and labor costs show no signs of easing. Many of these owners are mom-and-pop landlords, not corporate developers. With each passing year of artificially suppressed rent increases, they’re forced to defer maintenance, delay capital upgrades, and take on more debt just to stay afloat.
The long-term consequences are clear: when rents don’t reflect operating realities, housing quality suffers. Buildings fall into disrepair. And eventually, the very homes we aim to protect become uninhabitable — or are lost altogether through foreclosure or disinvestment.
There’s a dangerous assumption that rent stabilization protects tenants while leaving owners mostly unharmed. That’s a myth. The real effect of consistently low increases is a slow erosion of the rent-stabilized housing system itself — a system that serves tens of thousands of Westchester residents.
If we want long-term affordability, we need long-term sustainability. That means allowing for rent guidelines that reflect real operating costs — including inflation, insurance volatility, and the rising price of maintaining safe, quality housing.
Local and state officials cannot remain on the sidelines. They must recognize that overly restrictive rent increases are not a tenant protection strategy — they’re a slow march toward housing instability.
Elected leaders should work with housing providers, not against them, to create a rent stabilization system that’s financially viable, data-driven, and rooted in economic reality. That includes ensuring rent guidelines are informed by comprehensive cost data, not just political pressure.
Westchester’s rent-stabilized housing stock is worth preserving — but only if we give owners the tools to preserve it. Otherwise, we’re not just capping rent — we’re capping the future of this vital segment of our housing ecosystem.
