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 forever.

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: Private or market rate developers are financed through private capital, sometimes by large real estate funds, banks or other financial institutions. The debt comes with higher interest rates and rents are not set for affordability, but for maximizing returns.

Social housing can use bonds for debt, which carry lower interest rates, ensuring long-term affordability, stability, and sustainability. 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.

Different funding sources: Since social housing is not funded via tax credits, it has flexibility and nimbleness to move quickly. Our funding comes 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 prioritizes people who live and work in Seattle and make up to 120%+ of Area Median Income in the city (based on family size). There’s several priority income brackets by Area Median Income: 0-30 percent, 31-50 percent, 51-65 percent, 66-80 percent and 81 percent and above. Our ideal unit mix is 10 percent below 30 percent AMI, and then 30 percent, 15 percent, 15 percent, and 30 percent, respectively for each of the other income brackets. 

People who want to live in Seattle social housing are selected through a lottery. We recently held a lottery for people at 50% AMI or below for our first property — Elara at the Market. We will fill the first 15 vacancies with households at or below 30% of median income or $34,530 for an individual and $39,480 for a two-person household. The next 45 units will be filled with households with incomes between 30 and 50% of median income of $57,550 for an individual and $65,800 for a two-person household. Rents will range from $665 for a studio to $1,482 for a two bedroom.

We work with Roost Affordable to run our lotteries and randomly select applicants who have entered. Once selected, we do screen applicants. Applicants must make 2.5 times the rent in gross income, have no Tier 2 or 3 sex offender records in the federal registry, and no landlord tenant court records or unpaid rental collections within the last two years to qualify.

Direct payment assistance such as Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans Affairs benefits, unemployment, Worker’s Compensation and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) all count as income. SNAP or food stamps and Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program or WIC do not.

Full-time students are not automatically ineligible for social housing but must be receiving need-based financial aid or need-based loans.

For additional details on what is considered income and the kinds of documents that serve as proof of income, please look HERE.

People who entered our lottery but who were not immediately selected will remain on the waitlist. More information on other lotteries will become available as we acquire additional properties.

Right now, we only have one — Elara at the Market with 150 units. We aim to acquire at least 300 units in 2026, 280 next year, and have at least 50 units of new construction by 2028. All in all, we hope to have over 1,000 acquired units in the next five years and more than 600 newly constructed units.

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.

Inherent in the social housing model is the involvement of building residents in governance of social housing properties and the board of directors. Eventually, residents will make up about half the Board.

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.