The Puget Sound region is facing a housing crisis as demand far outstrips supply, driving prices to unsustainable levels. To balance the market, more homes must be built, but this requires collaboration between government, developers, and communities. Creative solutions to bridge the supply and demand gap, such as affordable housing mandates and streamlined permitting processes, can help create more affordable homes while preserving the region's unique character. Expanding new home development outside of the city and across the sound will lead to more homeownership opportunities.

The following article appeared in Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty’s 2023 Forecast Report, a comprehensive look at the Pacific Northwest’s ever-changing residential real estate landscape. To get your digital or print copy of this comprehensive look at the Pacific Northwest’s ever-changing residential real estate landscape, click here.

Washington State has a housing shortage, we are second to last in the country in terms of the number of housing units per household. A large portion of the shortage comes from zoning in Washington State. In 1990, Washington State enacted the Growth Management Act (GMA), which was designed to limit urban sprawl. The boundaries within the urban area are called the Urban Growth Area. It limits the outbound growth of our population, and in doing so, it restricts the amount of available land for development.

With the rising population growth of Washington State and the GMA restricting growth laterally, there are only two options to accommodate the population growth. One is to grow vertically, which Dean Jones addressed in New Urbanism Meets a New Paradigm. The other option is more infill development.

According to a study by Sightline Institute in 2015, 82% of the zoning in Seattle is zoned for Single Family Homes. This underutilizes a large portion of the developable land within the Urban Growth Area (UGA). In order to increase the capacity, we would need to allow for additional housing types within areas previously zoned for single-family homes, such as townhouses, multi-family, cottage housing, or just smaller lot sizes.

These types of multifamily housing options can be developed within single-family zones, made to blend into the neighborhood, and create flexibility for homeowners in all different demographics.

Currently, there are a few legislative bills that would increase the number of buildable lots in the State. HB 1110/SB5190, originally proposed by Governor Inslee would allow for multifamily in all residential zoning. This bill would not ban single-family housing, rather the owner would have the option to build what would be best for them or for the market. It creates vital flexibility that allows more density and opportunities for people to buy or rent.

Beyond zoning capacity, there are other measures in the legislature that would streamline the permitting process and reduce the cost of housing. One of the biggest actions cities can do to reduce the cost of permitting is called Plan Action. As an example, the City of Bellevue is doing its comprehensive plan for the city, and as part of it, they are including a city-wide Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This helps determine what impacts any development would have on the environment. Under the current rules, any development would have to do an individual EIS on their property instead of relying upon the city’s already completed EIS. Not only does this create an additional timeline during the permitting process, it creates redundant work. Planned Action would allow the developers to rely upon the city’s existing EIS.

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