Washington Announces $97 Million For Affordable Housing Projects

OLYMPIA, WA — The Washington State Department of Commerce has announced plans to distribute $97 million in state funds through grants and loans to help support local affordable housing projects.

According to the department of commerce, of that money, $85.3 million comes from the state's Housing Trust Fund, with the remaining $11.7 coming from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Together, those funds will help create and protect hundreds of affordable homes, including:

• 1,404 multifamily rental units
• 121 homes for first-time homebuyers
• 86 units of modular housing
• 74 units in "cottage-style communities

The state says investments like these are especially necessary right now in the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, 21 million Americans, nearly half of all U.S. renters, ended up paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Worse, nearly a third paid more than half of their total income towards rent.

That's bad but a totally new problem: rents have been skyrocketing over the past decade, and even before the pandemic an estimated 129,000 Washingtonians were at risk of losing their homes because of a lack of affordable housing.

“Washington’s affordable housing crisis has deepened with the economic blows of the pandemic,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “These important investments, serving thousands of Washingtonians, represent tremendous collaboration between our state’s Housing Trust Fund, other federal, state and local agencies, along with private business and charitable organizations, to bring every available resource to bear in addressing this growing need throughout our state.”

To counteract the housing crisis, the state's Housing Trust Fund has been put to work this year, setting a new record for investment by funding 37 affordable housing projects across the state, including:

• 361 units of affordable housing to be developed in rural Washington
• 168 units for those dealing with chronic mental illness or in need of permanent supportive housing
• 536 units for residents making less than 30 percent of the area median income
• 722 units to house residents experiencing homelessness

“This record-setting annual investment from the Housing Trust Fund is targeted to strengthen community capacity all over the state and maximize financial impact. Every state dollar invested will leverage $5 on average from other public and private funding sources,” said Commerce Director Lisa Brown.

Since its creation in 1986, Washington's Housing Trust Fund has invested $1.3 billion to help build and preserve 55,000 affordable housing units across the state.