Editorial: Lawmakers take second swing of hammer for housing

By The Herald Editorial Board

Even with several initiatives adopted last year during what was called “the year of housing” to increase the state’s stock of housing — in particular affordable housing — the state Legislature is expected in the session that begins Monday to take a second run at efforts that fell short in 2023.

The reason housing is getting increased attention two years in a row? Higher home prices and monthly rents should be clear to nearly everyone, as is a crisis in housing stability that has increased the ranks of those struggling or threatened with homelessness.

All that is further complicated by the state’s continued growth. The state Department of Commerce has projected the state over the next 20 years will need to see 1.1 million homes built, of which 800,000 will be apartments or other multi-family housing. In addition, communities throughout the state will need more than 90,000 beds for emergency temporary housing.

Among the solutions adopted last year, lawmakers restricted the ability of cities to limit construction of townhouses, duplexes, triplexes in neighborhoods traditionally zoned for single-family residences, and also eased path for accessory dwelling units — small cottages on an existing home’s property — that had already found approval amount more cities and counties. That allowance for more “middle housing,” according to analysis by the Puget Sound Regional Council, is expected to provide 75,000 to 150,000 new residences over 20 years.

As well, other bills from last year’s push are expected to streamline permitting for new construction of homes and multi-unit housing.

And with policy came significant funding in the state’s operating and capital budgets, totaling $1 billion, including a $400 million infusion for the state Housing Trust Fund, which builds and preserves affordable housing projects in the state.

Among the legislation that fell short was Senate Bill 5466, pitched by state Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, which would allowed construction of mid-sized apartment buildings on properties located three-quarters of a mile from bus and other transit routes with frequent service. That bill passed the Senate but didn’t make the House floor. Similar legislation, perhaps more tightly focused on fixed-route transit such as light rail and bus-rapid transit, such as Community Transit’s Swift lines, is expected to see consideration this session.

Proposals in response to significant jumps in rents also are expected to return. A low rental vacancy rate in the state — 3.8 percent, compared to the national 5.8 percent — has meant more competition for existing rentals, pushing prices up.

State Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, in a recent interview with the editorial board, said he expected a return of legislation to cap rent increases at maximum of 5 percent or similar. He said the legislation will include exemptions, for example for new construction or new tenants. But the intent is to prevent a tenant from seeing large and unexpected increases in rent.

“The whole ideas is as a homeowner I know what my mortgage payments are going to be for the next 30 years. So we think that renters should have at least some similar predictability,” he said.

Likewise, state Rep. Carolyn Eslick, R-Sultan, wants to address similar increases for owners of mobile homes for rental of sites at mobile home parks. Intended to help seniors on Social Security, Eslick said, the legislation would tie rent increases to the percentage increase in Social Security.

Eslick said she’s also looking at a proposal to make it easier for nonprofits to organize home-sharing networks that would help seniors and others with vacant rooms to offer those for rent.

Similarly, legislation is expected that would again legalize what in the past were called single-room occupancy buildings, where tenants had their own bedrooms but shared common kitchen and dining spaces and bathrooms. A report by the Niskanen Center says single-room rentals provide an affordable option, especially in areas of housing scarcity, and have been commercially successful where they are allowed.

Gov. Jay Inslee, joining in the effort, offers several proposals in his supplemental budget, including additional funding for local housing programs that have seen revenue decline because a decline in housing sales decreased what was earned in document recording fees. His supplemental budget also outlines $107 million in the capital budget for rapid housing and affordable housing programs, $24 million in the operating budget for local, emergency and local housing development programs; and $10 million additional for the state’s initiative to clear camps in the state’s highway rights-of-way by providing emergency housing.

There are factors in housing that are beyond the control of state lawmakers and the governor, including the highest mortgage rates in nearly 25 years and a lack of labor to build more homes. Fixing those issues will take patience and a new attitude among the public and Congress on legal immigration. But those complications make it all the more necessary for state officials to take what actions they can. A second “year of housing” will need to show results equal to the first.