Nkenge is a native New Yorker, born in the Bronx and raised in Harlem. Whereas rising up in the metropolis, residing in a neighborhood like Manhattan’s Flatiron, the place the present median lease is $5,394, appeared like a distant chance for the now 30-year-old content material creator.
However Nkenge’s dream turned a actuality when she was chosen for a one-bedroom residence by the metropolis’s housing lottery in 2023. In the three years prior, she had submitted over 120 functions.
The New York Metropolis housing lottery program helps residents discover inexpensive housing, together with rent-stabilized flats. The Division of Housing Preservation and Growth defines inexpensive housing as housing prices no better than 30 p.c of a single individual’s or household’s revenue.
Per the metropolis’s lease stabilization system, there’s a authorized restrict to how a lot lease one may be charged in a yr. NYC’s Hire Pointers Board determines the price at which lease in a rent-stabilized residence can enhance lease-to-lease.
Nkenge utilized to the NYC housing lottery for three years earlier than she bought her one-bedroom residence in Flatiron.
Mickey Todiwala. Photograph by CNBC Make It
Nkenge, who requested to solely be recognized by her first title for privateness considerations, tells CNBC Make It she began making use of to the lottery in 2020 as a result of she was paying round $1,900 for a small one-bedroom residence in Harlem, however needed to get her lease prices all the way down to round $1,000 a month.
“I actually wish to save for a place, one thing that I can name my very own and really personal,” Nkenge says. “I had a funds and I needed to stay to that. That is when the lottery ended up coming in proper at the nick of time.”
Nkenge’s yearly revenue needed to be between $36,798 and $59,340 to qualify for the lottery. When chosen, she needed to submit proof of revenue, which included financial institution statements, invoices, and tax types.
Whereas ready for ultimate approvals, Nkenge was proven three flats — two in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan.
“I first walked into these flats; they had been undoubtedly out of this world. They felt like a lodge,” Nkenge says. “I used to be greeted by a concierge and it simply felt so elevated.”
Nkenge selected a one-bedroom residence in the constructing in Manhattan. Her unit comes with a washer and dryer and the constructing has shared facilities that embody a fitness center, sport room, and rooftop.
Nkenge tells CNBC Make It she spent about $7,000 shopping for furnishings for her residence.
Mickey Todiwala. Photograph by CNBC Make It
The market price for one-bedroom flats in Nkenge’s constructing begins at $5,903 a month, in accordance with StreetEasy. There are 58 items in the constructing which can be designated for inexpensive housing, in accordance with NYC Housing Join.
“Residing in an inexpensive residence has not solely made my life simpler and much less worrying, however it has additionally allowed me to have extra entry to issues,” Nkenge mentioned. “It has allowed me to avoid wasting not solely for proudly owning a residence but in addition even retirement, life insurance coverage. That is by no means one thing that I’ve had in the previous, however now I can afford that as effectively.”
Nkenge’s two-year lease ensures her a lease of $997 a month, which incorporates a $85 utility allowance. She additionally pays a $54 constructing amenity payment and $195 in utilities, for a whole month-to-month housing prices of $1,246.
If she decides to resume her lease in Might 2025, Nkenge’s lease will enhance by 5% which is the present enhance proportion price allowed for rent-stabilized items in New York Metropolis.
Nkenge’s upfront prices included the first month’s lease and a safety deposit and totaled $1,994.
Earlier than successful her housing lottery residence, Nkenge lived in a small one-bedroom in Harlem.
Mickey Todiwala. Photograph by CNBC Make It
An estimated 27,261,057 NYC residents utilized for the metropolis’s housing lottery between 1/1/2014 and 6/30/2020, in accordance with the Division of HPD’s NYC Native Legislation 217 of 2019 report.
Nkenge believes much more folks ought to have entry to the program, particularly individuals who look like her.
“A variety of the instances while you’re not given the alternative to be in sure areas, it is sort of exhausting to get in there to start with. It is about who , which,” she says. “Sadly, I come from a area the place I did not actually know a lot of individuals.”
Nkenge’s lifestyle has modified fairly a bit since being chosen for the lottery and shifting into her rent-stabilized residence which she attributes to “having the ability to have entry to a place to stay, one thing which you can name residence and that’s inexpensive.”
Nkenge’s residence has an open kitchen and lounge space.
Mickey Todiwala. Photograph by CNBC Make It
Nkenge has been residing in her residence for a yr now and is benefiting from her low lease by saving to purchase a residence which she hopes to do in the subsequent 5 years.
“You are capable of get pleasure from life higher, have a higher high quality of life and are capable of do the issues that you simply love and accomplish the issues that you simply wish to accomplish,” she says.
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