From a cap on annual rent hikes to multiple supply bills, fixing Washington’s housing crisis was among lawmakers’ top concerns throughout the 2025 legislative session that ended Sunday.
Lt. Gov. Denny Heck called the progress made on housing this year a “bright spot” in a particularly challenging session. One example: The Democrat cited the final capital budget’s inclusion of a record-setting $605 million for the Housing Trust Fund to aid affordable-housing project construction.
Still, Heck said, the state has a long way to go.
“This supply shortage is so severe that nobody should leave here thinking, ‘Ah, we got this.’ Because we don’t have this yet,” he told reporters in an interview Sunday. “We are so far behind, even compared to our peer states — compared to all states — that we need to do a lot more.”
He added: “This is not the end of the story. It’s the beginning of the story, but it is a good step forward.”
Here are some of the housing-related bills passed by the Washington state Legislature. Whether Gov. Bob Ferguson signs them into law remains to be seen.
WA rent-cap bill
The rent cap legislation has been a long time coming, in Democrats’ view. The state Legislature passed House Bill 1217 on the final day of session, which advocates say will help offer stability and keep renters in their homes.
Asked about the bill at a Monday news conference, Ferguson didn’t say which way he was leaning.
Sen. Jessica Bateman, an Olympia Democrat who heads the upper chamber’s Housing Committee, said the rent-cap bill still allows landlords to increase rent so they can earn a profit while providing renters predictability. That stabilization will make folks less likely to become homeless, she said.
Bateman told McClatchy that the measure differs from rent-control rules in New York City.
This bill will limit annual rent increases to whichever is less: either 7% plus inflation or 10%; for manufactured homes the cap is 5%. After a tenant moves out, the landlord can adjust the rent to the market rate. Landlords must give at least 90 days’ notice ahead of a rent hike, among other provisions.
About 40% of Washington residents rent, nearly half of whom spend more than 30% of their earnings on housing, lawmakers and advocates note.
Republicans have criticized the proposal as one that will drive away developers and hurt small landlords. The minority party also accused Democrats of not doing enough to boost supply.
But Bateman pushed back against that claim.
“It’s a very reasonable approach and a very balanced approach,” she said of HB 1217. “And we did it in tandem with a wide variety, a whole portfolio, of supply-side bills.”
Supply-side housing bills
Some of the Legislature’s housing-related bills seek to increase middle-housing options and density, and lower the cost of construction.
Bateman said that a years-long push surrounding transit-oriented development made it past the finish line this year.
HB 1491 will lead to greater density near major transit stops and includes affordability requirements, she said. To help offset associated costs of such affordable units, lawmakers included a 20-year property tax exemption.
The Bateman-sponsored Senate Bill 5148, meanwhile, will enforce housing mandates to ensure the implementation of legislation on affordable housing. It also “establishes a builder’s remedy for noncompliant cities, so more housing is built,” according to a news release.
Another Bateman proposal, SB 5184, provides flexibility for minimum parking requirements, and nixes such requirements for affordable, small-scale and senior housing. Lawmakers had heard from developers this session that it’s among the single biggest bills that could help spark construction, Bateman said.
The government has control over elements such as permit-processing timelines, land use, impact fees and parking minimums, she said.
“And within what we can control, reforming our parking codes is one of them,” Bateman said. “So we’re really hoping to see that actually create more housing, more affordable housing, and in places where people want livable, walkable neighborhoods.”
SB 5471 opens the door for up to four middle-housing units per lot in rural and urban areas. Condo-construction statutes are getting simplified via HB 1403.
And HB 1096, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Andrew Barkis of Olympia, will allow more affordable middle housing to be built, Bateman said.
“It’s going to make it easier to actually do a lot-line split, which is really essential for the homeownership opportunities for those types of housing,” she said. “And they are typically, in most places, more affordable than a comparable single family home that’s brand new.”
Solving the state’s housing crisis can’t be done in one session, Bateman said. Lawmakers will need to continue being strategic and thinking of innovative ways to deliver housing quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively, she said.
Bateman noted ongoing inflation, tariffs and the federal crackdown on undocumented workers as challenges for housing construction. Lawmakers need to do everything they can at the state level to make it easier to build supply and invest in affordable housing, she added.
She said she’s grateful for the work legislators did this session.
“When I look at the long list of housing pieces of legislation, I feel like we took seriously the issue of our housing shortage,” Bateman said. “I’m hopeful that we can continue this focus and this effort — and we have a lot more work to do.”
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