Unlock the Door for Affordable Homeownership Snohomish County

UNLOCK THE DOOR IN SNOHOMISH COUNTY

CREATING AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE HOMEOWNERSHIP

SNOHOMISH COUNTY NEEDS MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES. In recent years, housing throughout our county has become less and less affordable, resulting in increased homelessness, fewer housing options for nearly all income levels, and too many barriers to homeownership. This impacts buyers, sellers, & renters alike.

Washington State, including Snohomish County, has been hard-hit by a lack of affordable housing opportunities. According to the U.S. Census, in 2018, nearly 99,000 households in Snohomish County were cost-burdened—meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs. And, that number has only increased since then!

The challenge of housing affordability is not someone else's problem. It is a problem facing our own families, friends, neighbors, our grown children wanting to purchase their first home, our aging parents who want to stay where they built their lives or even down-size to a smaller unit, & people we interact with every day - our food servers, nurses, & teachers. We want Snohomish County to be a wonderful place for everyone to live, work, and play.

What makes housing unaffordable is the lack of housing inventory. It is a simple supply & demand issue. Demand for housing has lead to skyrocketing prices and low housing supply. Families in all income groups are struggling to find homeownership opportunities.

We need action & collaboration among our city & county government officials to create more opportunities for affordable housing & homeownership. The problem is urgent and becoming more critical each year.

We urge you to contact your local city & county elected officials urging them to support the following policies (PDFs included to the right):

  • Ensuring buildable land supply for housing,
  • Increasing the densities of the urban growth areas,
  • Increasing the amount of land capacity available for development,
  • Considering expansion of the UGA boundary,
  • Ensuring county compliance with the GMA’s housing goals & local community comprehensive plans’ housing requirements,
  • Removing barriers by reducing construction costs & delay,
  • Expediting the permit process, &
  • Revising local zoning to encourage attached & detached dwelling units (ADUs & DADUs).

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