Reference guide

RGB rent increases by year

Every October, a new set of percentages takes effect for rent-stabilized lease renewals in New York City. The Rent Guidelines Board sets them; they apply to the legal regulated rent, not the market; and a two-year renewal carries a different total than a one-year. This is the full recent history, plus exactly how the cap is calculated.

What the Rent Guidelines Board is

The New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) is a nine-member body appointed by the Mayor. Each year it studies operating costs, the economy, and rents, then votes — usually in June — on the maximum percentage by which an owner may raise the rent on a stabilized apartment’s renewal lease. The resulting order takes effect for leases that begin on or after October 1 and runs through September 30 of the following year.

The RGB sets separate percentages for one-year and two-year renewals, and occasionally structures a two-year renewal as a split — one percentage in the first year, a different one in the second. The board governs only rent-stabilized units; rent-controlled units follow a separate HCR Maximum Collectible Rent (MCR) process, and market-rate units aren’t covered at all (though some may fall under Good Cause Eviction).

How the renewal cap is calculated

The percentage is applied to the unit’s legal regulated rent — the highest lawful rent established by the unit’s DHCR registration history — and to the lease term the tenant chooses:

Find the legal regulated rent in effect at the end of the expiring lease.
Determine the RGB order in effect on the day the new lease begins (the Oct 1–Sep 30 window).
Apply the one-year or two-year percentage for that order, per the tenant’s chosen term.
Add any active, lawful IAI or MCI adjustment on the unit.
The result is the maximum new legal regulated rent. Anything above it is an overcharge.

It's a computed number, not a negotiation.

A stabilized renewal isn’t priced to market — it’s the prior legal rent times the applicable RGB percentage. Urbero computes this automatically inside its rent gate and blocks any lease that would exceed it, which is how the law treats an over-cap rent: not as a choice, but as an overcharge with potential treble damages.

CalculatorRGB renewal calculatorEnter the prior legal rent and the new lease start date to compute the maximum one- and two-year renewal rents.

RGB Orders 52–57 (2020–2026)

The percentages below are the renewal increases adopted by the RGB for each lease year. The order in effect for a renewal is determined by the new lease’s start date.

Source: NYC Rent Guidelines Board Orders 52–57. Each order covers leases beginning Oct 1 through Sep 30 of the following year. As of June 2026.
Order	Lease year	1-year renewal	2-year renewal
52	2020–2021	0.00%	0% yr 1 + 1% yr 2
53	2021–2022	1.50%	2.50%
54	2022–2023	3.25%	5.00%
55	2023–2024	3.00%	2.75% yr 1 + 3.20% yr 2
56	2024–2025	2.75%	5.25%
57	2025–2026	3.00%	4.50%

These figures are time-sensitive. The board adopts the next order each June, effective the following October 1; confirm the order for the relevant lease year against the RGB’s published apartment order before applying it.

How split two-year orders work

In some years the RGB structures the two-year renewal as a split rather than a single percentage. Order 55 (lease years beginning Oct 1, 2023) set the two-year renewal at 2.75% for the first year and 3.20% for the second.

A split two-year renewal compounds.

The second-year rent is the first-year increased rent times the second-year percentage — not a flat sum. For Order 55, a $2,000 legal rent becomes $2,055 after year one (2.75%), then $2,120.76 after year two (3.20% on $2,055) — about 6.04% above the starting rent by year two, not a flat 2.75%. Getting the compounding right is the difference between a lawful renewal and an overcharge.

A flat two-year order (like Order 57’s 4.50%) applies the single percentage once to the legal rent for the full two-year term. The calculator handles both shapes for you.

Common scenarios

Tenant chooses a two-year renewal

Apply the two-year percentage (or the split, year by year) for the order in effect on the lease start date. Lock the rent for the term; the tenant gets the certainty of a fixed rent for two years.

A lease starts in late September

The order is keyed to the lease start date. A renewal beginning September 30 falls under the prior order; one starting October 1 falls under the new one. A one-day difference can change the percentage — check the start date, not the offer date.

There’s an active IAI on the unit

A lawful Individual Apartment Improvement uplift is added on top of the RGB renewal amount (subject to the HSTPA caps). See the MCI/IAI guide for how those increases are limited.

Frequently asked questions

When does a new RGB order take effect?: The board votes in June and the order applies to leases beginning on or after October 1, running through September 30 of the next year. The order that governs a renewal is the one in effect on the new lease’s start date.
Is the percentage applied to what the tenant pays now?: It’s applied to the legal regulated rent. If a lower preferential rent is being charged, how the increase interacts with it is nuanced and was tightened by HSTPA — verify the specific case with DHCR.
Why is a two-year renewal sometimes a split?: The board can set different first- and second-year percentages for a two-year lease. The second year compounds on the first-year increased rent, so the effective two-year total is higher than either single figure.
Do these orders apply to rent-controlled or market-rate units?: No. RGB orders govern rent-stabilized units only. Rent-controlled units follow HCR’s Maximum Collectible Rent process, and market-rate units aren’t covered (though some may fall under Good Cause Eviction).