Windsor Terrace Renter's Guide

Most Windsor Terrace buildings are small: rowhouses, two-family homes and walk-ups, on blocks that sit between Prospect Park and Green-Wood Cemetery. Nearly half of all homes are in buildings of one to five units. That means you will often rent from a small landlord, sometimes one who lives downstairs, and several tenant rules work differently than in a big building.

This guide shows the housing mix from the city's PLUTO data, the subway options, and the specific rules to check when you rent a floor of a house.

What the housing looks like

City Planning groups Windsor Terrace with South Slope into one Neighborhood Tabulation Area, so the figures below include both. Two-family houses are the single most common building: 46% of residential lots. One-family houses are another 23% and walk-up apartment buildings 21%.

Building size decides a lot here. The 46% of homes in buildings of one to five units cannot be rent stabilized under the usual six-unit rule, and many are owned by small landlords who may be exempt from Good Cause Eviction. The 18% in buildings of six to 19 units are mostly older walk-ups, which is where stabilized apartments are most likely; about 18% of all homes in the area are in non-co-op, non-condo buildings with six or more units built before 1974. If yours is one of them, check with the rent-stabilized checker and request the rent history.

Most buildings are old. By PLUTO's year-built field, 17% of residential lots date from before 1900 and 60% from 1900–1929. Newer construction is concentrated in a small number of larger buildings: about 17% of homes are in buildings from 2000 or later, but those sit on only about 4% of lots. A small part of the area (21 lots) falls in the Park Slope Historic District Extension.

Getting around

The F and G share the Culver line here. 15 St–Prospect Park and Fort Hamilton Pkwy are the two F/G stations in the neighborhood, and Church Av (F, G), listed by the MTA as accessible, is just to the south. The other two are not listed as accessible. On the South Slope side of the area, the R stops at Prospect Av on Fourth Avenue. By straight-line distance, every residential lot in the area is within half a mile of a subway station.

Renting from a small landlord: what changes

In a two-family house or a three-unit building, some protections that renters take for granted in large buildings may not apply, while others apply everywhere.

Good Cause Eviction

HPD says owners of 10 or fewer units in New York State are exempt from Good Cause Eviction, and so are buildings with 10 or fewer apartments where the owner lives. In an owner-occupied two-family house, Good Cause does not apply. In other small buildings it depends on how many units the owner holds statewide, which you usually can't look up yourself. Landlords must tell you in required notices whether your home is covered and, if not, why. Where Good Cause does apply, HPD lists the local rent standard as 8.38% as of May 4, 2026; increases above it can be challenged as unreasonable. Check your situation with does Good Cause cover my apartment? and the Good Cause rent increase checker.

Security deposits

The deposit rule has no small-building exception. NY General Obligations Law §7-108 caps the deposit at one month's rent and requires the landlord to return it, with an itemized statement of any deductions, within 14 days after you move out. A landlord who misses that deadline loses the right to keep any of it. Use the security deposit calculator to check what you are owed.

Registration, detectors and lead paint

• HPD registration: required for buildings with three or more units, and for one- and two-family homes where neither the owner nor the owner's immediate family lives.
• Carbon monoxide detectors: required in every unit of a multiple dwelling, and in non-owner-occupied one- and two-family homes that have fuel-burning devices.
• Lead paint (Local Law 1): covers buildings of three or more units built before 1960, and tenant-occupied units in one- and two-family homes built before 1960. The strongest duties apply when a child under six routinely spends 10 or more hours a week in the home.

Broker fees

Under the FARE Act, in effect since June 11, 2025, a broker who represents the landlord cannot charge you a fee. If a listing asks you to pay a broker, ask in writing who hired that broker. If you did not hire them, you should not be paying them. See do I owe a broker fee? and the broker fee checker.

Basement and cellar units

Rowhouses often have a lower floor. HPD defines a basement as having at least half its height above the curb, and a cellar as more than half below. HPD says cellars in one- and two-family homes cannot legally be rented, and a basement unit can only be rented if it meets light, air, sanitation and exit requirements with Department of Buildings approval. See basement and cellar apartments.

Checks before you sign

1. 1

   Look up the address

   On Roofy (/nyc), confirm the building class (one-family, two-family, walk-up) and legal unit count.
2. 2

   Count the units yourself

   Doorbells and mailboxes should match the legal count. An extra unit, especially below grade, is a warning sign.
3. 3

   Ask if the owner lives there

   It changes Good Cause, HPD registration and detector rules.
4. 4

   Ask who controls heat and utilities

   In small houses you may pay for heat or share a meter. Get it in the lease.
5. 5

   Check the deposit

   No more than one month of rent, and ask how it will be returned.
6. 6

   Read the lease for house rules

   Yard use, laundry, storage and guest rules are common in owner-occupied homes.