This morning City Council’s housing committee passed two pieces of legislation I sponsored and introduced earlier this year related to affordable housing preservation and tenant protections. This bills will go to the Full Council on Monday.
One bill requires that, barring exceptional circumstances and a waiver from the City, landlords give renters a longer notice period (90 days) when they determine they want to either sell the property or have a family member move in.
The other bill requires owners of existing affordable housing to give the City’s Office of Housing and the Seattle Housing Authority 60 days’ notice that the property will be listed for sale. In some cases, preserving existing affordable housing can be more cost-effective than building new affordable housing; this ordinance gives local public agencies time to consider making a purchase offer on buildings when and where it makes financial sense.
Former Councilmember Sally J. Clark initially proposed these ideas and I sponsored the legislation after she left the Council. They are two pieces of a much larger housing affordability puzzle the City must put together to keep Seattle affordable and accessible to people from all walks of life as it grows.
Tomorrow the Council will consider many other pieces of the puzzle in a separate meeting.