The Seattle City Council has announced new legislation to fund Seattle Social Housing (SSH) — a program designed to combat the city’s ongoing housing affordability crisis.
The approved legislation fulfills a promise made to residents after voters approved the creation of the public development authority in February 2025. The authority, in tandem with the city’s allocation of an additional $350 million toward creating more affordable housing, will drive meaningful impacts in improving housing conditions, accessibility and affordability.
The SSH’s goal is to develop, own, lease and maintain mixed income housing that is permanently affordable and to provide suitable housing for those priced out of market-rate alternatives. As part of its creation, enabled the City Council to create an ongoing revenue source for the SSH Developer (SSHD) selected for the project. The city will move forward by buying their first building in a long line of purchases to secure adequate housing for hundreds of residents across a variety of income levels.
To maintain social housing, the program will charge employers a 5% tax on annual compensation of about $1 million. Those funds will funnel directly into creating and supporting affordable housing options. Payments began in January of this year, enabling the program to hit the ground running.
Seattle’s approach to address the housing crisis shares similarities to other efforts nationwide, including a social housing policy in Texas.
Earlier this month, the Austin City Council adopted a resolution to assess the implementation of a Green Social Housing policy. While in an earlier stage than Seattle’s housing plan, the city manager will look into avenues to combine affordable housing with public ownership, subsidizing quality living conditions for residents that can’t match market-rate alternatives.
Austin’s approach will prioritize affordable housing blended with sustainability measures, creating communities that may potentially feature plant-based floors, efficient air conditioning, occupancy sensors and other sustainable properties. The city manager is expected to provide an update on the resolution later this year, with results delivered to the city council by December. Currently, plans are in order to develop one or two projects to pilot the model before broadening the program’s vision.
Photo by Yuval Zukerman from Pexels
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