In the last decade, the Puget Sound region has grown substantially faster than predicted. This is great news for our region, and we are proud to be an area people want to come to—but we want them to stay here too.
At the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, we hear from our member businesses all the time that they are struggling to find workers, despite the population growth. Our members also want to ensure stability so that their kids, the employees they mentor, and their neighbors, can stay here and take part in all the opportunities our region has to offer. We don’t have enough housing options in the region, for all people – across the income spectrum, to buy and rent – across all life stages and circumstances.
Here at the Chamber, we want to see legislation passed this session to increase housing and address affordability issues and we are working in coalition to make sure it happens. We have a long history of civic engagement at all levels of government and are involved in many issues that matter to Puget Sound region businesses and voters. And when it comes to welcoming people across the spectrum of life to live here, we will always put our stake in the ground to support a vibrant and competitive Seattle. Click here to email your legislator and ask them to support affordable housing supply today.
Why?
Research tells us that land use restrictions (including local authority to limit development to just single-family homes and requiring expensive parking spaces in association with new development) have led to higher housing costs and inequitable distribution of residents by income and race or ethnicity. Zoning rules are another explanation for the inequitable distribution of housing construction in Puget Sound in recent years. Most near-transit development in the region is on land zoned for multifamily residential uses by right, resulting in a housing deficit in nearly 60% of land zoned for other uses.
A study commissioned by the Urban Institute found that “a diverse range of reforms scaled to community needs is necessary to meet increased demand for housing” in the Puget Sound region. Reforms that allow higher-density housing and near-transit development would be most effective overall, according to this report. Additional findings revealed reforms allowing the construction of duplexes and four-plexes in suburban King County would significantly address inequitable housing distribution—including areas with high housing values such as Bellevue, Lake Forest Park, Mukilteo, and Newcastle. Even in Seattle, where most transit-adjacent housing growth is concentrated, many station areas are zoned for low densities.
The Urban Institute also predicts the region is on track to add significantly fewer housing units than it needs to match expected population growth by 2050. According to a report recently published by Challenge Seattle, to get on the right track Washington will need to produce about 2.5 million new homes by 2050 to fill the current supply gap created from decades of underbuilding to meet demand.
What’s next?
There is no silver bullet – building an abundant housing market is like building an ecosystem, and we need to pull a bunch of levers, simultaneously, to make it work. We need to change zoning, so more housing can be developed on lots – that will by nature make it more affordable. We need to streamline permitting and reform design review and look at requirements. Anything that adds time adds cost – cost that gets passed on downstream. We need to review our approach to building codes to make sure every requirement is worth it. If we do all those things, we will begin to bring down costs. And while we will always have a market for high-end or luxury units, if we pull the right levers, we can produce the middle-income housing people need. We also need to continue to invest in subsidized housing – both permanent supportive and low-income.
Housing across the Puget Sound region and the state is in crisis. We have a supply issue and we have not yet taken bold enough steps to address it. Over the last decade with the funding from the 2016 Seattle Housing Levy, we have focused on low-income housing. Even with increased investments, program adjustments and updates for the proposed 2023 Levy, the number of homes it will create over the next seven years is a drop in the bucket compared to the regional need.
The governor has proposed a statewide referendum to go to the ballot in November 2023. This request asks voters to allow the state to borrow $4 billion over six years to build/preserve/acquire nearly 26,000 additional homes across all communities and income spectrums statewide and to fully fund equitable accessible programs for historically marginalized people—without raising the debt ceiling.
Now is the time — we must make more policy changes and bring the rest of the housing market to the party. Right now, in Olympia, our state lawmakers are debating a myriad of housing reform bills designed specifically to address housing supply shortages, affordability, and equity. This includes everything from permitting reform, to housing benefit districts, middle housing, and other creative ways to scale up the number of affordable homes as quickly as possible.