The viability of the irreplaceable stock of nearly 200,000 affordable apartments across New York City is threatened by the one-two punch of inexorably rising costs and shrinking rent collections, warns the findings of a new survey of participants in the affordable housing community.
Sixty-one percent of survey respondents said the financial health of their buildings deteriorated over the last six months.
"Not a single respondent reported the financial strength of their affordable buildings improved," said Malcolm McGregor, Chief Asset Management Officer of the non-profit NYC Housing Partnership, which conducted the survey.
Eighty percent of survey respondents characterized at least a tenth of their portfolios as financially stressed today, with "insurance costs and declining rent collections cited as the leading drivers," said McGregor.
"Insurance towers over all rising costs, with 95 percent of respondents citing insurance premiums among their fastest-growing expenses," said McGregor.
Survey respondents were primarily private sector owners and developers of multifamily properties that have entered into an agreement with public agencies to keep rents at a set affordable level for income qualified renters.
Their rising costs have occurred while rental income shrinks. A majority of respondents said their properties are more than 95 percent occupied, “yet only five percent collect rent at that level, and nearly half collect below 90 percent of gross potential rent," said McGregor, "thus widening the gap with rising costs.”
"This growing crisis also jeopardizes building owners' ability to refinance, with 74 percent anticipating needing to reinvest in properties within three years. But 65 percent do not expect to manage it within their current capacity," reported McGregor.
Respondents were just as clear about what would help. Topping their list: new revenue sources for properties, relief from operating costs such as property insurance, tenant arrears assistance to shrink economic vacancy, and debt restructuring.
"They also gave the Partnership a clear mandate — 85 percent called for direct collaboration with City and State government, and 56 percent for concrete policy proposals," said McGregor. "We are working on each of these tracks, using our seat between the private sector, public agencies, and the affordable housing community to make sure the practitioner view reaches the people positioned to act on it."
"We must ensure that City Hall and Albany have the accurate data that are needed to formulate realistic, effective policies designed to sustain the long-term preservation of the City's affordable housing stock," said Molly Wasow Park, President and CEO of the Housing Partnership. “But the good news is that this is not a story of retreat. Two-thirds of respondents told us they hope to maintain or grow their presence in NYC over the next three to five years. If we act now, we have the opportunity not only to preserve, but to grow the supply of urgently needed affordable housing.".
"These responsible owners are committed to the stewardship of their properties and providing affordable, well maintained and comfortable homes to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. What's needed now are the tools to match their commitment. That requires a policy conversation grounded in fact and reliable financial information," said McGregor.
The NYC Housing Partnership's Asset Management and Housing Stability Unit conducted the survey June 18 through 26, 2026. More than half of the respondents were owners and developers with portfolios of 1,000 or more affordable units in New York City.
For more than four decades the nonprofit NYC Housing Partnership has facilitated transactions working with private sector developers and financial institutions and City, state and federal agencies, resulting in the creation and preservation of 100,000 low and moderate-income housing units in the five boroughs, leveraging over $11.1 billion in private financing and utilizing more than $550 million in subsidies for affordable housing.
