Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

In 2023, 57% of voters made clear their priorities and commitment to expanding housing options for all people in Seattle by voting for I-135. This initiative established a new, innovative public development authority: Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD). Its mission is to develop, own, lease, and maintain housing for individuals and families who make up to 120% of area median income (AMI)—housing that is permanently affordable and owned as a public asset.

Social housing exists in various forms throughout the world to provide housing that is secure and affordable for people who can’t afford market-rate rents. In our Seattle model, housing will be publicly owned in perpetuity and offer the long-term affordability that creates stable living environments, promotes social equity, and prevents displacement.  Social housing is typically managed in part by a governing board with significant involvement and agency by the renters themselves.

Social housing prioritizes people who make up to 120% of AMI in Seattle (based on family size). There’s four priority income brackets by Area Median Income: 0-30 percent, 31-50 percent, 51-80 percent, and then 81 percent and above. Our ideal unit mix is 10 percent below 30 percent AMI, and then 30 percent each for the three other income brackets. 

Flexibility around income and eligibility: Affordable housing providers must adhere to federal guidelines for tenant screening and eligibility. Social housing does not, allowing more flexibility in eligibility. Social housing residents don’t face being evicted if they get a raise or a promotion that puts them above income limits.

Serves those who power our economy: Social housing provides homes for essential workers like teachers, firefighters, and service workers who are rent burdened or priced out of market rate rents, yet don’t qualify for affordable housing.

Units are a public good: SSHD is a public agency. These buildings cannot be sold to private or market rate developers, ensuring long-term affordability, stability, and sustainability.

Different funding sources: Since social housing is not funded via tax credits, it has flexibility and nimbleness to move quickly. Our funding would come from public dollars generated through a compensation tax on companies who pay more than $1 million in wages to any single employee. Traditional affordable housing projects are generally financed through a combination of tax credits, grants, and low-interest loans.

Social housing can be created using mechanisms with lower interest rates. Market rate housing is financed through private capital, sometimes by large real estate funds, banks or other financial institutions. The debt comes with higher interest rates. Social housing can use bonds for debt, which carry lower interest rates.

Social housing does not have investors expecting and earning returns. The investor equity in market rate housing requires high returns, which are built into rents. Operators are expected to keep rents up and expenses down to produce the targeted returns for the investors, which means setting the rents to the maximum level the market will bear. Rents are not set for affordability, but for maximizing returns.  Social housing is publicly owned. Rents are set to cover and maintain the buildings and communities in a state of fiscal health, building health and community well being for the long term health of the housing.

Social housing is first and foremost, housing. Market rate housing (and even some affordable housing) is eventually sold to another investor, who then looks to increase the value of their new asset by raising rents. This is the cycle of market housing because it is first and foremost, an investment. Social housing does not participate in this investment cycle, and is thus able to prioritize creating affordability and cultivating communities where people can live and grow for as long as they want, without being forced out by sale or rising rents.

Social housing communities often incorporate sustainable practices, contributing to environmental conservation and healthier living environments. SSHD projects will prioritize the ultra-low-energy passive house standard for both new projects and retrofitting existing buildings. Our goal is to reduce energy usage and operating cost to buildings and reduce negative financial impacts of rising energy costs on residents of those buildings.

SSHD is governed by a 13-member board. Six different organizations made original board appointments: Seattle Renters Commission, MLK Labor, El Centro De La Raza, Green New Deal Oversight Board, Seattle City Council, and the Mayor. The majority of the board are renters with lived experience of housing insecurity. There are several board members with real estate development experience or nonprofit expertise.

Yes. Inherent in the social housing model is the involvement of building residents in governance of social housing properties and the board of directors. A more “hands on,” community-based form of governance and community engagement is meant to ensure the needs of renters are met while also ensuring financial accountability of public dollars. Eventually, residents will make up about half the Board.

Yes! Montgomery County in Maryland formed the Housing Opportunities Commission which acts as a public developer, financier, and owner that has produced hundreds of social housing units. Atlanta created the Atlanta Urban Development Corporation to build housing that would be available across income levels and where the city would have an ownership stake.