Cantwell-Hatch Provisions in Omnibus Bill Bring Unexpected Good News for Affordable Housing

Late last week Congress and the president approved the omnibus spending bill, averting a government shut down and- somewhat surprisingly– bringing good news to the affordable housing community. That’s because the spending bill includes a four-year, 12.5% increase in housing tax credit allocations and allows income-averaging at LIHTC-financed properties. Both provisions come from theAffordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, a 2016 bill by our own Senator Maria Cantwell and Utah’s Senator Orrin Hatch. Since its introduction, the bill has had wide-spread bipartisan support.

The income averaging provision, which is permanent, means that households earning up to 80% of area median income can live in LIHTC-financed properties so long as the average income of all residents remains at 60%. The 12.5% increase will not fully make up for projected reduction in development caused by the tax reform bill, but it is an important first step. The ACTION campaign reports it will support the development or rehabilitation of 29,000 new affordable rental homes nationwide.

Senator Cantwell will hold a press event tomorrow to celebrate, and all are welcome. Join at Patrick Place Apartments, 4251 Aurora Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98103 beginning at 11:15 pm. RSVP to [email protected] or call 202-579-6002.

Other developments…

• HDC Members: Got questions about parking requirements and reforms? Join us this Friday for a Learn at Lunch on Parking. Register here and bring your lunch!.
• City of Kent unanimously adopted a proactive rental licensing and inspections program! The new program protects renters from sub-standard living conditions and takes some of the burden of reporting them off of renters, though they still have that option. Kent residents, send your council a thank you here.
• Seattle is tied with Denver for lowest housing inventory in the nation, as homeowners delay selling out of fear they couldn’t buy in the market.
• The King County Council wants to see innovative responses to housing demand and Vashon looks to deliver. A development in planning stageswould bring 40 new, affordable, and green homes to the island.
• Land transfers can make affordable housing development a reality and the state just made it easier for some agencies do them. Real Change explores land transfers here.
• Speaking of land transfers, here’s a great story that begins in a refugee camp and ends at Nhon’s Place, but it probably doesn’t go the way you think it does.
• Sammamish has begun collecting input to update the city’s housing strategy plan. Good people of Sammamish, your feedback is requested here by April 10th.
• “What is it going to take to keep you and your family housed right now?”New data from King County shows that question led to solutions for 4,000 people who were able to keep themselves housed with help from the Best Starts for Kids initiative.
• A vision of affordable housing surrounded by immigrant-run shops in downtown Tukwila, made possible with help from a land trust, detailed here.
• Seattle’s open houses on mandatory housing affordability continue with districts 3 and 7 this Thursday. The public hearing for these districts is on April 16th.

Did we miss something? Let us know!

With Your Help, Kent Can Get Proactive About Healthy Homes

Tomorrow Kent City Councilmembers will vote on a proactive Rental Licensing Inspection Program to protect and improve the health of rental housing in the city! This is great news because it means that buildings will be regularly inspected without tenants having to complain first.

Send in your emails NOW and help to create the third proactive municipal rental inspections program in King County! Help make this great program a reality by urging the Council to vote YES tomorrow.
Send an email here >>

Other developments…

• HDC Members: Got questions about parking requirements and reforms? Join us for next Friday’s Learn at Lunch on Parking Register here.
• “12th Ave Arts took 13 years and four mayors” Turns out, affordable housing development isn’t easy. Real Change explores some of the reasons why.
• Housing insecurity is of increasing concern to older adults. A social worker at a Seattle senior center says requests for housing assistance went from rare to weekly in just the last four years.
• Kenmore’s getting denser and more urban, according to this new profile in Crosscut and the city wants to hear from residents about a new Economic Development Strategy.
• NLIHC released it’s 2018 Housing Gap Report last week. In Washington, there are only 29 affordable homes for every 100 households with 30% or less of area median income.
• More moratorium for City of Sammamish, though Mayor Malchow doesn’t expect the moratorium to last the full six months for which it has been enacted.
• A bill to increase relocation assistance for tenants of mobile homes failed to pass this legislative session, but Rep. Ryu holds out hope for next session.
• “You’re a paycheck away.” The Housing For All Coalition hosted a House Partyat Cafe Red last week where Seattleites shared their housing stories and ideas for solutions.
• Folks working at the intersection of climate, equity, and social justice might want to check out this training hosted by King County GreenTools, Northwest EcoBuilding Guild, and Built Green
• Seattle may place a moratorium on rent-bidding websites following the lead of The Associated Students of UW.

 5 Bills in 1 Session= Better Housing Outcomes for WA!

Well done, advocates! The 2018 legislative session has come to an end, and it was historically good.

To everyone who advocated, we say thank you. Your outreach and persistence led to the passage of 5 bills this session, each with a meaningful and positive impact for affordable housing:

• Document Recording Fee- generated funding for housing and homelessness services has increased and been made permanent with the passage of HB 1570
• A tax on short-term rentals like AirBnBs will fund affordable housing with the passage of HB 2015
• Publicly-owned surplus land will be prioritized for affordable housing development with the passage of HB 2382
• Renters across the state across the state who use publicly administered funds, like Section 8 vouchers or Social Security benefits, received legal protection from source of income discrimination with the passage of HB 2578
• Non-profit affordable housers will not be assessed real estate excise taxes with the passage of HB 2444

You advocated, and your lawmakers listened. Thank them today! 
Send a Thank You

Other developments…

• EVEN MORE THANK YOUs to everyone who joined us for our 30th Anniversary Celebration luncheon! It’s an honor to share space with you year after year. Couldn’t attend? You can still support our work here.
• TONIGHT: City of Kent might get proactive about keeping their housing healthy by adopting a proactive rental licensing inspection program. Let them know it’s a great idea!
• City of Seattle’s public hearings on Citywide- Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) continue with Districts 5 & 6 tonight. Interested in supporting MHA? Connect with Seattle For Everyone for details.
• Seattle’s Progressive Revenue Task Force released its final recommendations on an employee hours tax (EHT) after City Council narrowly rejected the first EHT proposal last November.
• City of Bellevue approved $1.8 million to ARCH last week. The funding will support four affordable housing and shelter developments around east King County!
• City of Renton is weighing a rental licensing and inspection program similar to those already in use in Tacoma and Bremerton.
• Residents of the Firs in SeaTac, who have been fighting the sale and pending redevelopment of their mobile home park, got some help from the state budget, but it will be about $8 million short unless other resources come into play.
• Nexus Youth & Families opened a new 24-hour shelter for youth in Auburn. The shelter is reopening after a four-year closure due to lack of funds.
• A new 24/7 shelter for families is coming to Kirkland. The City and its partners in the project hope it will open in 2019.

State Legislative Update: 3 days remain!

Three days remain until “Sine Die”- the last day of this year’s historic state legislative session. Housing Advocates have had some truly incredible wins, but we don’t get to celebrate just yet. Two bills need our support to make it through these few short days. Help get these bills over the finish line:

HB 2437: to raise up to $500 million for investment in affordable housing statewide
HB 2444: to ensure non-profit affordable housing providers aren’t assessed real estate excise tax

Keep your lawmaker’s attention on these issues and urge their support with a quick email.

Other developments…

• Tomorrow is HDC’s 30th Anniversary Celebration! It’s SOLD OUT! But you can still support our work here.
• 130 “truly affordable” homes coming to the east side! Imagine Housing’s work at Esterra aims to make it easier for people who work in Redmond to live there, too.
• A court ruling may offer new protections for people living in their vehicles. A King County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of a man who lived in his truck until it was ticket, towed, and impounded.
• We need more housing, sure, but we also need higher incomes writes the Time’s Jon Talton in this deep-dive into economic drivers of the affordable housing crisis.
• Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus addressed affordable housing in her State of the City speech, calling for regional solutions to the ‘ripple effects’ stressing Auburn and the entire Puget Sound region.
• Woohoo! Renton City Council will expand source of income discrimination protections to cover social security, unemployment, retirement, child support, and other non-profit or government administered income! We’re looking forward to seeing the whole state join Renton in passing these protections before the end of legislative session!
• Sammamish students will host HopeFest later this month. The event is an opportunity for people in need to receive food, clothing, toiletries, etc., and enjoy entertainment.
• King County provides space for two organizations fighting homelessness.The Block Project and Humble Design have new space to work on Harbor Island.
• Crosscut’s Knute Berger has a thought piece that begins with affordable housing, makes a pit stop on Vashon Island, and ends in “Cascadiatopolis.” 
• City of Seattle’s public hearings on Citywide- Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) continue with Districts 5 & 6 next week. Interested in supporting MHA? Connect with Seattle For Everyone for details.
• City of Kent might get proactive about keeping their housing healthy by adopting a proactive rental licensing inspection program. Let them know it’s a great idea!

Housing bills continue to advance; 9 days remain in session!

The only people in Washington working more overtime right now than Legislators are housing advocates, and it shows! Our friends at the Housing Alliance have neatly pulled together ONE message to urge senators to support a slew of housing bills. Take action here.

Other Developments…

• City of Kent might get proactive about keeping their housing healthy. Kent’s Economic & Community Development Committee will consider a proactive rental licensing inspection program soon. Let them know it’s a great idea!

• HDC is turning 30 this year! Join us March 6th to celebrate our big 3-0.   

• Affordable housing and mental health care topped the list of human services needs for the City of Bellevue. Staff unveiled their 2017-2018 Human Services Needs Update on February 5th.

• Redmond approved their budget process for the coming year- and approved some affordable housing funds while they were at it!

• Federal Way experiences some growing pains around it’s new shelter. City officials visited with the business community recently to hear concerns. 

• Congrats to DESC for opening The Estelle today! Read more about this new development here.

• The cost of seismic upgrades existing affordable housing has many operators quaking in their boots. Crosscut’s David Kroman talks to Capitol HIll Housing about how their assessing retrofit needs here.

• Need a ramp to make your home accessible, or know someone who does?The Master Builders Association of King & Snohomish Counties might build you a free one if you apply by March 1.

• Ougoing All Home Director Mark Putnam gave The Seattle Times an exit interview and shared his parting thoughts. 

• You might be hearing a lot more about rent bidding soon. Or maybe you won’t, if UW students’ bid to ban it succeeds. 

Join us tonight for the First Public Hearing on Citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability  

Wallingford, Ravenna, Roosevelt, U-District, and Sand Point residents: now is your time to shine! The public hearing process for citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) kicks off in District 4 tonight:

Nathan Eckstein Middle School
3003 NE 75th Street
Seattle, WA 98115
5:00 pm

Can you join us in support? You can sign up to give testimony by yourself or as part of a team of four, or show up and wave a sign in solidarity.  Seattle for Everyone will be there at 4:30 with stickers, snacks, and last minute talking points.   

Other Developments…

• Friday was a good news day for Washington housing advocates! All these great bills passed their chamber and move on to the next round:

  • HB 2382 concerning prioritizing surplus public land for affordable housing

  • HB 2578 prohibiting source of income discrimination

  • SB 5407 prohibiting source of income discrimination

  • HB 1570 concerning funding for homelessness programs (actually passed Thursday, but we’re still excited!)

• Other bills need your support to live past Wednesday… which is the next cut-off day. Help them out by emailing your reps right now:

  • Take Action HB 1797: Local options for local affordable housing needs

  • Take action for HB 2437: A capital infusion for affordable housing

  • Take action for HB 2444: the little technical fix with a big impact for low-income housing tax credit-financed properties

• HDC is turning 30 this year! Join us March 6th for our big 3-0.   

• RFP for emergency Shelter & Services outside of Seattle has a new, extended deadline: King County is making $1 million available over three years for new or expanded emergency shelter services outside of Seattle. Apply by tomorrow 2/13. Details here under RFP# 1012-18-VLN.

• A tale of two mobile home parks in two different corners of the county, with potentially different outcomes. Residents of The Firs in SeaTac fight for the security that residents of Friendly Village in Redmond recently received.

• It’s reasonable policy or a nuclear bomb, depending on who you ask. What is it? HB 2583; the bill to repeal Washington State’s prohibition on rent control. Real Change looks at a handful of perspectives here. 

• “I used to think I was gonna die at the park like my elders.” First Nations people in Seattle and King County are disproportionately likely to be experience homelessness, and community leaders are getting creative to meet the need.

• A campaign to tax large Seattle businesses to support affordable housing has launched. The Housing For All Campaign seeks to revisit the employee-hours tax that city councilmembers voted down in November.

• Older adults of the Seattle LGBTQ community: participate in this survey from the Office of Housing and you might win a $200 QFC or Fred Meyer gift card. 

• Bellevue is for lovers of TOD: The city is hosting an open house on the East Main transit-oriented development area on Valentine’s Day, which is this Wednesday, FYI.

As more people experience (and exit) homelessness, volunteers set out to enumerate the county-wide crisis

All Home’s annual Count Us In event got a fair amount of press last week, though the new data won’t be available until the spring. The same week, One Table, the county-wide effort to establish a regional solutions, released their own numbers which King 5 accurately characterized as “staggering.”

Lack of affordable housing has pushed up the number of people experiencing homelessness, but the group did have some good news to share: people who become homeless are exiting it faster.

Even Pearl Jam is getting involved. The band is set to play two shows at Safeco in August and will donate at least $1 million in proceeds to a TBD anti- homelessness effort. Along with their announcement the band challenged everyone from fans to philanthropists to do what they can to bring about a little better set of days for our communities.

Other Developments…

• Today’s the deadline to submit comment on Ft. Lawton! Wouldn’t it be nice if the fenced-off, recent target of arson was replaced with 240 safe, healthy, affordable homes? We think so.

• Rep. Macri’s controversial bill to repeal rent control drew big crowds to Olympia for a pubic hearing last week.

• What does Mayor Durkan’s affordable housing announcement mean for the CID and its neighbors? It’s a start, says the International Examiner.

• 12,008 new homes sprouted up along the I-5 corridor last year, a 50% increase from 2016. More supply is good news as 1 in 5-6 homes in the area are topping $1 mil.

• Federal Way will consider an employment program for people experiencing homelessness, Mayor Ferrell said in his State of the City address. The mayor also discussed downtown development post-moratorium. 

• Deadline extended: RFP for emergency Shelter & Services outside Seattle: King County is making $1 million available over three years for new or expanded emergency shelter services outside of Seattle. Apply by 2/13. Details here under RFP# 1012-18-VLN.

• Tell the Regional Affordable Housing Task Force your experiences making King County your home in person on January 30th (hint: that’s tomorrow!) or online. Details here. 

• Seattle’s Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance is nearly 30 years old, and this year one councilmember has a proposal to require landlords to do more. Erica C. Barnett offers this primer on the existing policy and Councilmember Sawant’s proposal.  

• F.A.R. for the course? This piece from the Urbanist proposes developing affordable housing on publicly-owned golf courses.  Another option: lidding I-5.

• Burien’s new City Council takes on a familiar issue: homelessness. 

• Unique opportunity for Redmonders to help craft city budget: The City of Redmond seeks applications from people who live or work in Redmond to inform the city’s budgeting-by-priorities process.

• Bellevue School District awarded $855k Best Starts for Kids funding for programming for students experiencing homelessness.

• Older adults of the Seattle LGBTQ community: participate in this survey from the Office of Housing and you might win a $200 QFC or Fred Meyer gift card. 

• Development of new mixed-income housing begins near Mt. Baker Station. The property will list studios beginning at $1,028, one-bedrooms for $1,344, and two-bedrooms for 1,836, using the multi-family tax exemption.