Approved SFY 2024-25 Budget Will Invest in Affordable Housing Across New York State

Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal today announced that the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2024-25 Enacted Budget will address the housing crisis in New York State by investing in affordable housing, as well as tenant protections and programs that provide support to renters and homeowners.

 “The Assembly Majority has a long history of fighting to make safe, affordable housing accessible for New Yorkers,” said Speaker Heastie. “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.”

“For months, we have worked to craft a housing package that addresses the need to increase supply, ensure fair wages for the workers who bring these projects to fruition and protect tenants from unscrupulous rent hikes and retaliatory evictions,” said Assemblymember Rosenthal. “Our final budget makes strides toward achieving these goals, but the work is far from over. There is no doubt that our state is facing a housing crisis, and tenants are still being priced out of their homes and face needless evictions. With good cause now a statewide option, we must continue to push forward for greater protections.”

Tenant and Homeowner Protections

The budget will also create protections for homeowners, including:

• Protections against residential and commercial deed theft; and
• Making explicitly clear in state law that a squatter is a person to whom a landlord-tenant relationship does not exist.

The Assembly Majority has a long history of fighting for tenant protections, and has included in this plan new tenant protections to prohibit the removal of a tenant from a housing accommodation by eviction or refusal to renew a lease without good cause within New York City and by local option in the rest of the state. Established good cause includes nonpayment of rent, illegal activities, recovery for personal use, and nuisance. Additionally, a tenant can claim an unreasonable rent increase as a defense during a non-payment eviction proceeding if the rent increase exceeds the lower of five percent plus the change in the consumer price index or 10 percent.

Affordable Housing Programs

The budget will invest in affordable housing programs that help families across New York State. Included in the spending plan is $150 million to create the New York Housing for the Future Program. This new statewide limited equity cooperative program will provide affordable homeownership and rental opportunities to low and middle income families, and allow the program to develop housing on state and municipally owned sites, as well as sites owned by not-for-profit corporations and Community Land Trusts. The budget also includes:

• $140 million for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA);
• $80 million for the Mitchell Lama program, which provides affordable rental and cooperative housing for moderate- and middle-income families;
• $75 million for public housing authorities outside of New York City.

Also included in the budget are provisions that will support renters and homeowners, including $40 million for the Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP), an additional $15 million for a total of $50 for Eviction Prevention Legal Services, and $10 million for shelter and utility arrears for those who are outside of New York City, eligible for public assistance and have exhausted emergency assistance payments.

Tax Incentives

The budget includes the following tax incentives to create housing options, including establishing:

• Real property tax exemptions for accessory dwelling units (ADUs);
• Real property tax exemptions to convert offices in New York City to permanently affordable housing;
• 485-x, a tax incentive for the construction of new multiple dwellings that include affordable units, including small, modes and large rental projects; and
• Real property tax exemptions to incentivize the construction or conversion to rental buildings with at least 10 units upstate and outside of New York City with options for 25 percent or 100 percent affordable housing.

Additional provisions that would increase housing stock in New York include:

• Authorizing New York City to establish a five year pilot program to legalize basement and cellar apartments; and
• Allowing the floor area ratio (FAR) of New York City dwellings to exceed 12 under certain conditions including requiring a portion of the new dwelling provide permanently affordable housing.

Additionally, the budget will provide homeowners at risk of tax foreclosure with additional protections and due process prior to a foreclosure being executed, and allow former homeowners to retain surplus resulting from foreclosure sales up to three years after the sale.