Name:	nen_InvestmentsInNumberOfLimitedPartnershipsAndLimitedLiabilityCompanies
Namespace Prefix:	nen_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Number of employees, excluding President, having ownership interest in the investment properties.

No definition available.

Name:	nen_NumberOfEmployeesHavingOwnershipInterest
Namespace Prefix:	nen_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Represents the number of partnerships which are investing in commercial properties.

No definition available.

Name:	nen_NumberOfPartnershipsInvestingInCommercialProperties
Namespace Prefix:	nen_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114001798&loc=d3e33918-111571

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentNonconsolidatedInvesteeAxis=nen_InvestmentPropertiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=nen_HamiltonCompanyIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	srt_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=nen_NewEnglandRealtyAssociatesLimitedPartnership40PercentOwnershipMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	srt_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=nen_NewEnglandRealtyAssociatesLimitedPartnership50PercentOwnershipMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=nen_ManagementCompanyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	srt_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=nen_BrownFamilyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: