(last updated on 03/27/2024)
You can follow along as we make progress toward implementing these Washington State bills, which address housing supply, stability, and subsidy by:
- Allowing more new homes with the intention of reducing the shortage and cooling rents and prices.
- Including more protections to safeguard those with the least housing security.
- Expanding opportunities for housing subsidy to help those who cannot afford what the market offers.
Housing Supply Bills
Zoning Reform
These bills reform zoning laws and other local codes that make it illegal or cost-prohibitive to build many types of housing, including “middle housing.” Middle housing includes duplexes, triplexes, townhomes, accessory dwelling units, and small apartment buildings. Middle housing is generally more affordable and requires less land per unit than detached housing. By making it easier to build more middle housing, we can help provide some relief to our community’s shortage of homes.
About the Bill
House Bill 1042 loosens restrictions on adding housing within existing multifamily buildings by exempting the added units from parking requirements, density limits, and other potential barriers.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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About the Bill
House Bill 1181 allows more housing as a climate action strategy. This bill makes a broad set of changes to the Growth Management Act to address climate change, including a provision for local governments to legalize higher-density housing.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Bellingham has already adopted a Climate Action Protection Plan addressing many of these topics. Staff anticipate an increased emphasis on climate resilience and streamlining of climate-related policies as part of the implementation of HB 1181.
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About the Bill
House Bill 1220 adopted by the Legislature in 2021 changed the way communities are required to plan for housing. The bill amended the Growth Management Act (GMA) to require, instead of encouraging, local governments to “plan for and accommodate” housing affordable to all income levels including emergency housing and shelters.
The Washington State Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) used to provide population projections across the state, but this bill has expanded upon that process. Commerce now provides counties across the state with projections of household counts at each income band. Jurisdictions within each county then must plan for and accommodate those households across the various jurisdictions. This will require jurisdictions like Bellingham to consider the potential costs of the housing types that are permitted and encouraged by our land use regulations. It also requires jurisdictions to remove policies with racially disparate impacts, such as those giving precedence to certain neighborhoods over others.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Bellingham will incorporate HB 1220 requirements into the 2025 Comprehensive Plan (the Bellingham Plan).
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About the Bill
House Bill 1110 legalizes middle housing in residential neighborhoods. This bill requires jurisdictions of Bellingham’s size to allow a variety of housing types up to four units per lot. Six units per lot must be allowed in some areas, depending on proximity to transit and affordability of the units. Additionally, in the process of approving these middle housing types, jurisdictions may only apply administrative design review and may not require standards that are more restrictive than those required for detached single-family housing (also addressed by HB 1293).
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Bellingham’s existing Infill Toolkit regulations already address many of these middle housing requirements and apply to many areas of the City. The Bellingham Plan will work to provide guidance for policy and code updates to implement the citywide changes required by HB1110.
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About the Bill
House Bill 1337 makes it easier for homeowners to add accessory dwelling units (ADUs), also known as “backyard cottages” and “bonus homes.” The bill lifts local barriers by ending requirements for owners to live on-site, capping impact fees and parking mandates, legalizing two ADUs per lot, and setting baseline standards on lot and ADU size.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Bellingham’s City Council adopted revised ADU regulations on August 7, 2023, that met the requirements of HB 1337, except for the owner occupancy requirement, which was retained, but will end January 1, 2026, when Bellingham’s compliance with HB 1337 is required.
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About the Bill
Senate Bill 5058 helps small-scale condo and apartment development, exempting buildings with 12 or fewer units and no more than two stories from the definition of “multi-unit residential building.” This change eliminates building enclosure design and enclosure inspection requirements that add excessive costs when building, rehabilitating, or selling units in these small-scale developments.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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About the Bill
Senate Bill 5258 reforms regulations for small-scale condos, specifically laws on construction defect actions and warranties, deposit requirements, and local government planning, and exempts first-time homebuyers from the real estate excise tax. Previous condo liability laws discouraged builders from providing ownership opportunities, so these changes may allow jurisdictions to encourage more development of ownership model housing.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Future implementation for Bellingham could include impact fee adjustments for smaller housing forms like condos and amendments allowing unit lot subdivisions where units are individually owned and land is held in common ownership.
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About the Bill
Senate Bill 5491 legalizes single-stair apartment buildings, or “point access blocks,” up to six stories. This change will make it easier to build compact, low-carbon, livable multi-family housing. The bill requires the State Building Code Council to develop recommendations for these buildings and adopt the changes by July 2026.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Following development and adoption by the State Building Code Council, these changes will be adopted by the City of Bellingham.
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Permit Streamlining
These bills enable the production of more and lower-cost housing by reducing the delay that excessively long permitting timelines, design review, and environmental review can cause.
About the Bill
House Bill 1293 streamlines local design review processes, requiring them to use “clear and objective” standards that don’t reduce development capacity otherwise allowed. In addition, the process cannot require more than one public meeting.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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About the Bill
Senate Bill 5290 supports local governments in streamlining their permit processes for new housing, establishing grant programs for them to reduce permit review timelines and to support local governments’ transition from paper-based to software/web-based systems.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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About the Bill
House Bill 5412 reforms the environmental review process by exempting proposed housing development within urban growth areas that comply with local Comprehensive Plans from State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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Housing Stability Bills
These bills safeguard housing security during times of rapid change. Most commonly, they provide protections for tenants beginning or ending the renting process by establishing clear rules around damage deposits and giving tenants more options and leeway navigating the eviction process. The bills also include policies to help first-time buyers achieve homeownership, and existing owners to stay in their homes.
Renter Protections
About the Bill
House Bill 1074 limits landlord withholding of damage deposits. This bill establishes rules to ensure landlords fairly and promptly return tenants’ damage deposits after they move out.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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About the Bill
Senate Bill 5197 strengthens tenant rights in eviction processes. This bill modifies eviction notice and eviction legal process requirements to give tenants more options and leeway.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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Home Ownership Support
About the Bill
House Bill 1474 supports first-time homebuyers harmed by historical discriminatory covenants. It establishes a Special Purpose Credit Program, funded by a $100 document recording fee, to provide down payment assistance and closing cost assistance to first-time homebuyers with income less than the area median who were themselves, or are descendants of someone who was, excluded from homeownership in Washington by a racially restrictive real estate covenant prior to April 11, 1968 (passage of the Fair Housing Act).
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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About the Bill
House Bill 1771 strengthens the rules governing relocation assistance provided by the Manufactured/Mobile Home Relocation Assistance Program for displaced mobile home park residents. The bill lengthens the time tenants are eligible for relocation assistance and allows tenants the opportunity to receive compensation from park owners and still be eligible for the maximum assistance through the Program.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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About the Bill
Senate Bill 5198 strengthens rules to give manufactured homeowners the opportunity to purchase manufactured home communities when owners propose closure or conversion. The bill specifically requires park owners to provide adequate notice of intent to sell and opportunity to compete for purchase to tenants and qualified tenant organizations and sets timelines for submission and consideration of purchase offers.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Bellingham’s City Council adopted opportunity to purchase regulations on November 7, 2022. Where the timelines allowed by SB 5198 exceed those adopted by Bellingham the new State rules apply.
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Housing Subsidy Bills
These bills increase funding to deliver more homes to those who still cannot afford what the private market can provide. Subsidy includes public dollars spent on building and operating affordable housing, and includes targeted tax and fee exemptions for privately funded affordable housing.
Funding for Housing Construction and Land
About the Bill
Senate Bill 5200 / House Bill 1147 funds affordable housing through Washington’s 2023-2025 Capital Budget by allocating $570 million for affordable housing. This includes $400 million to the Housing Trust Fund (the highest amount ever); $60 million to connect affordable housing developments to infrastructure; $50 million for projects designed to increase the supply and affordability of transit-oriented housing; $40 million for the Housing Finance Commission Land Acquisition Program; $14.5 million for youth shelters and housing; and $5 million for landlord mitigation.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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About the Bill
House Bill 1695 facilitates the use of surplus property for affordable housing by clarifying the definitions of affordable housing that qualify as a “public benefit” to authorize governments and public agencies to sell publicly owned surplus property at discounted prices for affordable housing development.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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About the Bill
Senate Bill 5301 improves affordable housing program management with technical and bureaucratic updates to how the Department of Commerce manages various affordable housing subsidy programs.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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Tax Exemptions and Fee Waivers
About the Bill
Senate Bill 5287 adopted by the Legislature in 2021 amended the Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) program with the aim of increasing market rate workforce housing and developing permanently affordable housing opportunities. The bill:
- Allows jurisdictions not otherwise eligible to offer the MFTE program to qualifying properties until December 31, 2026.
- Allows for extension of the 8 or 12-year tax exemption period for an additional 12 years.
- Allows qualifying jurisdictions with mandatory inclusionary housing programs to offer a 20-year tax exemption.
- Creates a new 20-year tax exemption for properties that sell or rent at least 25 percent of units to non-profit or local government partners that assure permanent affordable homeownership
- Until December 31, 2031, allows jurisdictions not otherwise qualified to offer a 20-year tax exemption to properties in zones meeting specific density requirements (25 units per acre for a city of Bellingham’s size).
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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About the Bill
Senate Bill 5045 creates a property tax exemption for ADUs to property owners who offer them at rent affordable to people making 60 percent of the area median income.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Planning for future implementation.
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About the Bill
House Bill 1326 reduces utility costs for affordable housing by authorizing local waivers of utility connection charges for affordable and supportive housing owned by nonprofits and housing authorities.
Status of Incorporating this Bill for Bellingham
Bellingham’s Municipal Code section 15.08.230(C) already provides an opportunity to waive up to 80% of water utility system development charges for affordable housing projects.
