A small room for rent in your building – as a possible source of extra income.
Single Room Occupancy (SRO) is a small room you rent in NYC for someone to live in. It usually has a bed, a sink, and a stove, but no private bathroom and no full kitchen. The tenant shares a bathroom in the hallway with other tenants.
NYC Rules
SROs are older, low‑cost rooms, often built in the early 1900s in rooming houses. They are usually classified as “Class B” on the building’s Certificate of Occupancy. New SROs generally cannot be created in NYC today, but existing legal SRO units can remain in use.
Important information
Owners cannot create illegal SROs by dividing regular apartments into many small rooms. This is called illegal conversion. It is against NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) rules and can lead to violations, fire hazards, or vacate orders.
To see what can happen when an SRO-type layout is created without proper permits and approvals, read our case study: Queens fire case and illegal conversion (SRO layout).
As the homeowner you have to know that:
If you own a building with SRO units, make sure they are legal and listed on your Certificate of Occupancy. Renting out illegal SRO rooms can result in DOB violations and a vacate order.
Examples in NYC
Example in NYC: a rooming house in the Bronx that is legally operating as a Class B occupancy, or a homeowner who receives a violation for illegally partitioning rooms.
What you can do
- Check your property in DOB systems (for example, DOB NOW or BIS) to see open or expired permits.
- Keep copies of your permits, plans, inspections, and letters from DOB.
- If you are not sure what to do, talk to a professional (architect, engineer, expeditor, or attorney).
- You can use our comment form or call us for a short free consultation to understand your situation better.
- Check your Certificate of Occupancy to confirm if your building is legally approved for SRO use.
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