Affluent New Yorkers are receiving some of the city's largest rent-stabilization discounts, according to an analysis of 2023 housing data that is intensifying debate over who benefits from the nation's largest rent-regulation system.

The Wall Street Journal's analysis New York City’s 2023 Housing and Vacancy Survey found that high-income households in rent-stabilized apartments often receive larger savings than lower-income tenants because they are more likely to live in expensive neighborhoods with wider gaps between regulated and market rents.

Renters in the top 25% of earners save about $1,000 per month compared with similar market-rate apartments, representing a 33% discount, the analysis found.

The highest-earning 10% save approximately $1,300 a month, or 36%, while tenants in the three lowest income brackets save about $300 a month, with discounts ranging from 15% to 22%.

An analysis of the survey data by the Citizens Budget Commission found that households earning more than $200,000 annually occupy about 10% of the city’s approximately 1 million rent-stabilized apartments, or more than 86,700 households.

The largest discounts are concentrated in Manhattan, where regulated rents are about half of market rents, according to the Journal. By comparison, stabilized apartments in the Bronx rent for about 12% below market rates.

"You do have people paying $5,000, $6,000 or $8,000 for rent-stabilized apartments," Allia Mohamed, CEO of rental data firm Openigloo, told the Journal.

Critics said the findings demonstrate that rent stabilization can provide substantial benefits regardless of whether tenants need financial assistance.

"This shows you the system is malfunctioning," real estate attorney Massimo D'Angelo told the Journal. "We need to give these apartments to people who actually need them."

Tenant advocates rejected that argument, saying the program was created to preserve neighborhood stability and protect residents across income levels from sharp rent increases and displacement.

"This isn't a welfare program. That's not what rent stabilization is. We're not looking out for just the most needy," said Darius Khalil Gordon, executive director of the Metropolitan Council on Housing. "It's made to make sure that people can afford to live in a city that they love."

Rent stabilization is not income-tested, and the state's 2019 housing law eliminated high-income deregulation, which had allowed an apartment to leave regulation when its rent exceeded a specified threshold and its tenants earned more than $200,000 for two consecutive years. The legislation also eliminated high-rent vacancy deregulation and restricted increases tied to apartment improvements.

The debate comes ahead of a citywide rent freeze scheduled to take effect Oct. 1.

The Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-1 in June to prohibit increases on one- and two-year renewal leases beginning between Oct. 1, 2026, and Sept. 30, 2027, covering approximately 1 million apartments.

The freeze, a signature policy of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is the first in the city's history to cover both one- and two-year stabilized leases.

A group of landlords filed a lawsuit last week seeking to block the policy, alleging Mamdani improperly influenced the board and that its decision failed to account adequately for rising building expenses.