Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s administration estimated the city will need to build an eye-popping 700,000 new housing units over the next 10 years to keep up with demand \u2014 evens as tens of thousands of affordable apartments sit vacant.<\/p>\n
The draft report from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development is the first to be released under a 2023 City Council law requiring regular assessments of the Big Apple\u2019s long-term housing needs.<\/p>\n
Analysts at HPD determined that the five boroughs have an immediate need<\/a> for 290,000 housing units to address current shortages and ease the city\u2019s measly 1.4% apartment vacancy rate.<\/p>\n A new report from the HPD claims NYC will need to build 700,000 units of affordable housing to keep up with demand. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n Another 240,000 homes are needed to keep up with population growth over the next decade, according to the first-of-its-kind \u201cFair Housing Growth Strategy\u201d report.<\/p>\n On top of those 530,000 units combined, an additional 170,000 will be necessary to meet \u201cfuture need,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n The report makes no mention of the city\u2019s 57,000 rent-stabilized<\/a> housing stock vacancies and the over 6,200 empty public housing units under NYCHA.\u00a0<\/p>\n It references Mamdani\u2019s \u201cBlock by Block\u201d housing plan announced earlier this year \u2014 which seeks to build 200,000 low-and middle-income homes over the next 10 years, as well as preserve 200,000 existing affordable units.<\/p>\n Mamdani and President Donald Trump in the White House Oval Office on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. Mamdani made an unannounced trip to Washington to discuss housing with the president. NYC Mayor’s Office<\/p>\n The 700,000 unit goal includes the 200,000 units of new construction, but does not include the preservation goal, an HPD spokesperson confirmed.<\/p>\n The findings released Wednesday blamed the city\u2019s housing shortage on \u201cdecades of underproduction,\u201d finding that the majority of neighborhoods have added only 240 units or fewer in the last 15 years.<\/p>\n But real estate industry insiders said if the city is serious about addressing the housing shortage, it needs to make it easier to ramp up production.<\/p>\n mmediate need for 290,000 units to \tHow they got to 700,000<\/p>\n \u2014101,000 to get a healthier vacancy rate<\/p>\n \u201493,000 adults currently living with parents or roommates who want their own place<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201453,000 to house the homeless<\/p>\n \u201440,000 to cut down on overcrowded\/doubled-up apartments<\/p>\n \u201cThis report puts an even bigger number on New York\u2019s housing shortage and confirms that supply is at the heart of the affordability crisis,\u201d said James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf New York is serious about producing 700,000 new homes, policymakers must confront the issues still holding housing back,\u201d Whelan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the immediate term, NYC needs 290,000 units of housing to remedy the 1.4% vacancy rate. City of New York<\/p>\n He mentioned fixing the 485-x property tax incentive, which mandates that union labor be used on buildings larger than 100 units, leading to many smaller developments.\u00a0<\/p>\n Whelan also said empty rent-regulated units should be put back on offer at market rate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question is no longer whether we need more housing. The question is whether the government is willing to make it possible to build it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Vacancies in rent-stabilized apartments increased by 8,000 units in 2025 alone, according to a report by the state Department of Housing and Community Renewal.<\/p>\n Rent-stabilized landlords are still struggling<\/a> to keep up with increased operating costs \u2014 which jumped an average of 5.3% this year, with insurance costs alone for affordable housing jumping 10.5%.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question is no longer whether we need more housing. The question is whether the government is willing to build it,\u201d said REBNY President James Wheelan. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n The financial strain on landlords was exacerbated in June \u2014 when the Rent Guidelines Board voted to freeze the rent<\/a> on the city\u2019s affordable housing stock of roughly 1 million apartments \u2014 leaving landlords who are already strapped for cash with few options to remedy their dilapidated buildings.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s Deputy Mayor of Housing, Leila Borzog, downplayed the number of vacant affordable homes, saying the answer shouldn\u2019t be to raise their rents.<\/p>\n
fix 1.4% apartment vacancy rate:<\/p>\n\n
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