The 421-a tax exemption is a property tax exemption in the U.S. state of New York that is given to real-estate developers for building new multifamily residential housing buildings in New York City. As currently written, the program also focuses on promoting affordable housing in the most densely populated areas of New York City. The exemption is granted for any buildings that add multiple new residential units, and typically lasts for 15 to 25 years after the building is completed. Longer exemption periods apply in less densely populated areas of the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan.
The original program gets its name from section 421-a in the New York Real Property Tax Law. The 421-a program began in 1971, and the state government later added provisions to mandate the creation of affordable housing units in order for developers to qualify for the program. Under the original program, areas in which developers qualified for the tax break included all of Manhattan and portions of the rest of New York City.
The original program lapsed in January 2016 after disagreements between the state government and the New York City government, but a deal was struck in November 2016 among unions, developers, and Governor Andrew Cuomo to bring it back, pending the approval of the New York State Legislature. After the April 2017 budget negotiations, the program was officially renewed, with the official new program name being "Affordable New York". The program is administered by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Under the program, much of the stabilization benefit going to market renters goes away as does the older versions 50% community preference, making this program controversial. Tenant rights were expanded under the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, leading housing advocates to call for the repeal of 421-a.
Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) President James Whelan in January 2022 "indicated support for Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposed Affordable Neighborhoods for New Yorkers program, a rebrand of the expiring 421-a tax break."
Concept The 421-a program applies to developers in New York City who build multi-family housing on land that is "vacant, predominantly vacant, or underutilized." 421-a applies to newly built, market-rate, multi-family housing units, whereas a rehabilitated or converted multi-family residential building is subject to J-51 tax exemption and abatement. The program also requires a portion of a new development's units to be affordable in order for the developer to qualify for the tax exemption.
The rules for the 421-a tax exemption include several "enhanced affordability areas" in parts of Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. Buildings with more than 300 residential units that are located within these areas would be granted a 100% tax exemption for up to three years during construction, plus a 100% exemption for 35 years after construction is complete, provided that they comply with one of three 421-a options. For all other buildings that do not qualify for the enhanced-affordability option, these buildings would have a tax exemption for 3 years during the construction process and 35 years after construction ends, provided that they comply with one of the three other 421-a options. However, the 100% exemption would only apply during the first 25 years after the completion of construction.
Throughout the period of the exemption, the developer must pay at least the property taxes paid on the property prior to the exemption being granted. Developers do not have to pay taxes on the increased value of the property for the duration of the exemption period, with a phase out period in which the tax benefit is gradually reduced over years. The lost property taxes would otherwise go to the city government as property tax revenue.
History Origin of the program There was a concern in the 1970s that residential housing construction was declining as people moved from New York City to the suburbs. In response to this trend, the state passed the original 421-a tax exemption program in 1971, with the goal of encouraging the construction of more residential housing in the city. The 421-a tax exemption program kept property taxes on the developer steady during and for a period of time after construction. The goal of doing so was to decrease the large tax burden an increased valuation of the property would create for the developer, which would then encourage residential housing creation in the process.
The original 421-a program detailed a tax exempt period of three years or the construction period, whichever is shorter. During this period, the builder paid zero property taxes. Afterwards, a ten-year exemption period began, in which builders were exempt from the increase in taxes for two years, followed by a 20% decrease in the tax exemption every two years (80% exempt in year three, 60% exempt in year five, etc.) This would last until after the tenth year, in which the builder would begin paying the full property taxes mandated for the total value of the property. All builders of multi-family housing outside of the Geographic Exclusion Area (GEA) had a right to this deduction. This version of the exemption remained in place before the addition of affordable housing requirements in the 1980s.
Under the initial program, 421-a applied to all dwellings with at least ten housing units. The above exemption applied to the value of the housing improvements. The original 421-a program also required that rents in buildings receiving the tax exemption be at least 15% less than the rents of comparable units nearby. 421-a housing units were also subject to all local rent stabilization laws that were passed for a period of ten years or however long the rent stabilization laws lasted, whichever period was shorter.
Amendments and affordability provisions In 1976, the state legislature passed amendments preventing the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) from rescinding certificates of eligibility for any projects started on or after July 1, 1976. In 1977, the program was extended for an additional four years. Then, in 1978, the requirement that privately owned buildings contain at least six dwelling units was removed. Three years later, non-condominiums under the program were made subject to rent stabilization laws, a change from when non-condominiums were only temporary subjected to those same laws. The 1981 amendments also allowed the HPD to restrict access to the program for areas that did not need the tax incentives or should be used for non-residential purposes. In 1983, certain cities in the state were permitted to limit, restrict, or condition 421-a benefits. In the 1983 revision, the also state rescinded 421-a tax benefits for multi-family dwellings that were converted from non-residential use.
In 1984, the state mandated that rents for buildings built after January 1, 1974, be stabilized until May 15, 1985. Also, the state mandated that the New York City Board of Estimate review all local restrictions on 421-a benefits for approval. Additionally, the state passed laws that officially restricted benefits for projects in Manhattan: Areas in Manhattan eligible for the exemption were reduced, and previously non-commercial sites now had to be underutilized for three years prior to construction to become eligible for the 421-a tax exemption program.
As a follow-up to earlier legislation, in 1985 the eligibility of projects in the restricted area for 421-a tax benefits was restricted to projects that either received financial help from any level of government or had 20% of their housing units be certified by the HPD to be affordable. The restricted area at that time was in Manhattan, roughly bounded by 14th Street to the south and 96th Street to the north. Outside of the excluded zone area, projects had an "as-of-right" exemption of between ten and fifteen years. In addition, the 1985 legislation allowed for a 25-year exemption period if the project took place in a neighborhood preservation area, was in an area eligible for mortgage insurance made available by the rehabilitation mortgage insurance corporation, or received funding under the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Act. The 421-a program was further extended the same year, and the definition of "construction period" was defined to be three years or less.
Geographic Exclusion Area
Starting in 2006, the Geographic Exclusion Area (GEA) was expanded to include other parts of New York City outside of Manhattan. The 421-a tax exemption affects the entire city, but the requirement for affordable housing only affects construction projects in the GEA. Generally, these areas are located where housing prices are the most expensive and where affordable housing is most needed. The entire GEA is in New York City. Under the current program, all of Manhattan is part of the GEA. In addition, the Queens and Brooklyn waterfronts are part of the GEA as well, along with parts of northern Staten Island, a small area in central Queens, and a small portion of the Bronx. The GEA boundaries are established by both state and local laws.
Under the 2006 version of the program, several rules applied. For the part of the GEA in Manhattan south of 110th Street, the owner had to provide affordable housing in order to get any 421-a tax benefits. For such projects, a ten-year tax exemption could be obtained through building affordable units offsite, via a "negotiable certificate" from the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development. However, a 20-year tax benefit could only be obtained by building affordable units on-site. In the rest of the GEA, certificates meant a 15-year exemption and on-site affordable units meant a 25-year exemption. Outside of the GEA, negotiable certificates were prohibited. A 15-year exemption was always allowed for any construction project, with a 25-year exemption being permitted if affordable housing units were built in the apartment building.
Expiration, debate, and renewal In June 2015, the state government agreed to renew the 421-a tax exemption program, extending it for another four years. The state increased the affordability requirement from 20% to 25-30%. However, the state extended the program conditionally. Specifically, the state set a requirement that workers and developers come to an agreement on whether workers on 421-a construction projects would be paid union-level wages, something that developers stated would increase construction costs drastically. The city's Independent Budget Office estimated that the union-level wages requirement would increase the cost of Mayor Bill de Blasio's affordable housing plan by $2.8 billion. The extension of the program was void if such an agreement on union-level wages was not reached by January 15, 2016. Advocates of not renewing the program claimed that the program unfairly benefited real estate developers at the expense of the New York City taxpayer; the funds for the program essentially came from the New York City government. Because an agreement was not reached by the deadline, the 421-a program expired in New York on January 15, 2016.