ALBANY, NY (October 16, 2025) — Governor Kathy Hochul signed a legislative package Thursday aimed at making homeownership more attainable and strengthening protections for renters across New York state.
“Every New Yorker deserves a safe, stable place to call home,” Hochul said. “With this legislation, we’re opening more doors to homeownership and strengthening protections for renters — because every New Yorker deserves the fair chance to build a better life in a home they can afford.”
The homeowner package includes tax incentives to reduce costs for low- and moderate-income buyers and measures to combat appraisal discrimination. Legislation (A355-C/S1718-B) offers property tax breaks for homes built with assistance from government entities, nonprofits, or land trusts, sold to low- and moderate-income buyers.
“We’ve been fighting to make homeownership affordable in rural and upstate communities,” said State Senator Michelle Hinchey. “This will help more New Yorkers realize the dream of owning a home.”
Assemblymember Didi Barrett added, “This common-sense legislation will help ensure these homes remain accessible to hard-working New Yorkers.”
Another bill (A6770/S7285) provides tax incentives to redevelop vacant or abandoned properties into affordable housing, addressing blight and increasing housing stock. Assemblymember Judy Griffin said, “This legislation supports local control while increasing the housing stock and will help remove blight from our neighborhoods.”
To tackle appraisal bias, legislation (A6869/S7320) makes discriminatory appraisals a violation of the state’s Human Rights Law, with fines supporting fair housing enforcement. “This bill recognizes that discrimination in appraisals undermines one of the key benefits of homeownership,” said State Senator Brian Kavanagh.
Assemblymember George Alvarez noted, “These measures are an important step toward greater equity in our housing system.”
For renters, the package bans algorithm-enabled rent price fixing, which cost tenants an estimated $3.8 billion in inflated rents nationwide last year. Legislation (S7882/A1417-B) targets software like RealPage that facilitates collusion. “This legislation will update our antitrust laws to make clear that rent price-fixing via artificial intelligence is against the law,” said State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal.
Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal said, “We are leveling the playing field for tenants, giving New Yorkers greater access to affordable apartments.”
Other renter protections include extending security deposit safeguards to rent-regulated tenants (S952-B/A6423-A), capping bounced check fees at $20 or the landlord’s actual costs (A56-B/S3845-B), and ensuring succession rights for family members in NYCHA properties (S8311-A/A8412-D).
Hochul’s broader housing agenda includes a five-year plan to create or preserve 100,000 homes, already ahead of schedule with 65,000 homes. She also secured zoning changes for office-to-housing conversions, authorized a new 485-x tax incentive, and committed $1 billion to support New York City’s “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” rezoning, expected to produce over 80,000 homes.
Earlier this week, Hochul signed legislation enabling tax cuts for Penn South residents, building on her FY26 Budget, which reduced taxes for Mitchell-Lama households by up to $50 million annually.
This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.
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