Affordable housing has always been a part of East Harlem’s identity. However, after the government subsidies end, a sizeable number of housing units might not remain affordable for long, a study shows.
The Regional Plan Association (RPA) recently conducted a survey of East Harlem’s rent-controlled housing units and found that nearly one-third of the 40,500 regulated housing units will lose their rent protection by 2040. Only 200 units will expire after 2040.
By 2020 close to 2,600 units will lose their rent-regulated status. Most of these houses will be along Lexington Avenue, the report states.
The RPA’s survey also shows that there is a huge gap between the number of market-rate housing and regulated units that have come up in the last two decades, which has led to greater diversity in housing stock and household incomes.
“However, with no net increase in the amount of rent-regulated units, there is greater pressure to preserve the affordable housing that currently exists," the survey states. "With subsidy restrictions phasing out throughout the city, there is a question whether low- and moderate-income households in East Harlem will be priced out not only from their existing community but from other neighborhoods as well.”
To avoid such a situation, various measures can be adopted, which include working directly with owners to keep these units affordable; encouraging residents' participation in public-housing initiatives; and providing safety nets for tenant relocation when deregulation does occur.
Setting up of community land trusts has also been mooted. This allows residents of a community gain and maintain control of real estate to protect long-term, sustained affordability.