This afternoon, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) delivered the initial findings of the latest New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey (NYCHVS) to the New York City Council. Conducted roughly every three years since 1965 in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau, the NYCHVS is the longest-running housing survey in the country and the official source of the city’s net rental vacancy rate, used to determine the continued need for rent control and rent stabilization. By adding new questions over time since the original survey launched, the NYCHVS provides unique, comprehensive data, creating a snapshot in time of NYC’s overall housing stock, its people, and their lives. [Source: NYC.gov]
As the city grapples with a decades-long housing crisis, the latest NYCHVS, conducted in the field from January through mid-June 2023, reveals a stark reality for New Yorkers. While the city has broken records in financing new affordable housing and connecting New Yorkers with homes over the past two years, without new tools and land-use changes, New York City’s supply of available housing simply cannot keep up with the demand to live here.
Strikingly, New York City’s vacancy rate has dropped to a mere 1.4 percent – the lowest this measurement has been since the 1968 NYCHVS. Without significant public investments in new construction and housing preservation, the City’s wealth gap and racial disparities will grow while middle- and low- income New Yorkers will increasingly struggle financially.
“The data is clear: the demand to live in our city is far outpacing our ability to build housing. New Yorkers need our help, and they need it now,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “While our administration continues to create a record number of affordable homes and helps more New Yorkers move into these homes than the city ever has before, we need more tools to house our neighbors, protect tenants, and deliver the affordability New Yorkers deserve. I am calling on all levels of government to help us meet this moment and ensure New York City remains a viable home for working class New Yorkers.”
“The historic low vacancy rate from the 2023 Housing Vacancy Survey illustrates the pressures New Yorkers are facing in the housing market, and underscores the dramatic need for more homes in New York City, especially for lower income New Yorkers,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “To meet this need and turn the tide on our long-standing housing crisis, we need action from colleagues across the City and State to support our housing agenda, and to advance proposals and projects that will allow us to build and preserve more housing in every neighborhood across the city.”
“This latest survey result shines a spotlight on what we know as New Yorkers, more people want to live and work in the greatest city in the world but are struggling to find housing that makes that possible. In spite of our record-breaking year for housing production, the crisis continues to deepen. This clearly means we need to do more at all levels of government and in partnership with the private sector to address this growing crisis,” said HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “Together we must act quickly and decisively to deliver more affordable homes to get us out of this crisis and keep New York City competitive and livable.”
“The findings of the 2023 Housing Vacancy Survey further highlight how dire New York City’s affordable housing crisis has become, especially for our most vulnerable individuals and families,” said New York City Housing Development Corporation President Eric Enderlin. “With a record-low vacancy rate and a growing number of New Yorkers facing the financial strain of rising rents, it’s critical that our city receives the resources needed from every level of government to effectively address our affordable housing shortage.” [Source: NYC.gov]
