New York Senate Bill S01399

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/9/25
• Refer: 1/9/25
• Report Pass: 5/12/25
• Engrossed: 6/6/25
• Refer: 6/6/25

Caption

Establishes the vacant rental improvement program to provide grants of up to $75,000 per unit to owners of buildings with five or fewer units.

Summary

S01399 would create the “vacant rental improvement program” within the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation to provide capital grants of up to $75,000 per rental unit for owners of buildings with five or fewer units outside New York City. The stated purpose is to help rehabilitate vacant or code-violating units and bring them back into safe, habitable use in areas facing a shortage of affordable rental housing. To receive a grant, an owner must enter into a regulatory agreement requiring the renovated unit to be rented at an affordable rate to households earning no more than 80% of area median income for 10 years beginning with the first lease after renovation. If the owner violates the agreement, the state may recoup the grant in full, and the affordability restriction follows the unit even if it is sold or transferred. The bill also directs the Housing Trust Fund Corporation to adopt rules for eligibility, applications, grant disbursement, and compliance, and it creates a dedicated rental improvement fund in the state finance law to support the program.

Impact

The bill would amend the Private Housing Finance Law by adding a new article establishing the grant program and affordability conditions, and it would amend the State Finance Law to create a rental improvement fund for program expenditures. It would primarily affect owners of small residential buildings with five or fewer units outside cities of one million or more residents, as well as tenants in those units, by tying public rehabilitation assistance to long-term affordability requirements. The Housing Trust Fund Corporation and the state comptroller/Division of Housing and Community Renewal would gain new administrative and oversight responsibilities.

Sentiment

The available voting record suggests broad support for the bill. It passed the Senate Housing, Construction and Community Development Committee 10-1, the Senate Rules Committee 20-0, and the full Senate 52-1. The strong margins indicate that lawmakers generally viewed the proposal as a targeted housing supply and affordability measure, especially for upstate communities.

Contention

The main policy tension appears to be between providing public grants to private landlords and ensuring a durable public benefit through affordability restrictions. Supporters likely favor the bill as a way to rehabilitate vacant units, address code issues, and expand affordable housing without new construction. The lone dissenting votes suggest some concern about the use of state funds, the size of the per-unit subsidy, administrative enforcement, or the requirement that affordability remain attached to the unit for ten years and survive transfer of ownership.