“Historic”: City freezes rental prices for 1 million apartments

The new rules, decided by a responsible committee, apply to one- and two-year contracts concluded between October 1, 2026 and September 30, 2027. For these, the permissible adjustment is zero percent, according to the statement.

Rental contracts in big cities are usually limited to one to two years and are renewed at appropriate intervals. For the rent-regulated apartments now affected, a city committee decides by what percentage landlords can increase the rent at the end of the contract. Most recently, this limit was 3 to 4.5 percent. For many other apartments there is no fixed limit.

Most important election promise fulfilled

“This is a historic victory for New York renters,” Mamdani said in a statement following the decision. It is a well-deserved relief for the working population.

US President Donald Trump, however, equated the decision with a “confiscation” of property and said: “These buildings will soon become ghettos and slums. People will continue to leave New York. And if this development spreads across the country like an uncontrollable form of cancer, it will ultimately bring down the entire country.”

Freezing rents was a key campaign promise for the Democrat, who has been in office since the beginning of the year. During the election campaign, Mamdani even waded into the ice-cold Atlantic off Coney Island wearing a suit for his slogan “Freeze the Rent”. Overall, Mamdani promised to generally get the escalating cost of living in New York under control.