Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson announced earlier this month $244 million in housing investments and signed an executive order to help establish a housing agency. The multi-million-dollar funding proposal included $237 million in investments to the capital budget; Washington’s largest state-funded housing investment in a supplemental budget.
The housing investments include a wide scope of priorities across the state. The announced introduced $55 million for rehabilitation and housing preservation, including aid for flood relief, response, and recovery funding. $50 million of the total funding would go to the Housing Trust Fund Preservation Program to cover rehabilitation and repairs for affordable homes. The program’s expanded terms include repairs for flood-damaged homes. The other $5 million in grant funding would be used to expand the Low-Income Home Rehabilitation Grant Program.
Another focus of the proposed funding is to build and protect thousands of affordable housing units. $81 million will be used to develop approximately 1,933 new affordable rental units while another $20 million will go to acquire and preserve mobile and manufactured home communities, preventing 426 households from displacement.
Some funding will support clean energy upgrades and energy efficiency, while another share will make it easier for first-time home buyers to enter the market. $73 million will be put towards the Homeownership Program to create 664 units for first-time buyers. Additionally, $6 million will be dedicated to speeding up housing development for cities and counties by modernizing permitting systems.
The governor also signed Executive Order 25-12 to form a task force dedicated to the creation of a cabinet-level housing agency aimed at addressing the state’s housing crisis and the diverse housing needs of Washingtonians. The task force will serve as the state’s problem-solving hub for expanding housing supply statewide and prepare for establishing the Department of Housing. It will also engage a broad range of stakeholders to identify gaps and opportunities for all housing types.
The task force will be made up of 19 total members, 10 of which will be appointed by the Governor. An additional 2 members will be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and another two by the President of the Senate. Three members each represent the Association of Washington Counties, the Association of Washington Cities, and the Association of Washington State Housing Authorities, respectively. The final two members will each represent Washington’s non-profit and for-profit housing development sectors. The force will provide recommendations for the work, structure, and costs of a housing agency by Nov. 15, 2026.
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