25-04-2025
WA lawmakers strike deal on rent-cap bill: ‘We need affordability relief now'
Rent stabilization in Washington is one step closer to becoming a reality.
House and Senate lawmakers struck a deal Thursday on House Bill 1217, also called the 'rent-cap bill.' The measure could be up for a vote as early as Friday evening.
Housing advocates championed the lower chamber's version of the bill, which aimed to limit annual rent hikes to 7%. But the Senate proposed a higher lid of 10% plus consumer price index, a measure of inflation, upsetting many renters and housing advocates as a result.
The latest agreement?
Lawmakers on Thursday proposed a compromise: Rent hikes would be capped at 7% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower. The agreement also nixed a Senate adjustment that would have exempted single-family homes.
Under the proposal, new construction would be exempt for 12 years. Nonprofit-managed affordable housing and public housing authorities also would be exempt.
For residential rents, the limit would sunset after 15 years. Manufactured and mobile homes would enjoy a 5% rent-increase cap, a provision that wouldn't sunset.
Landlords must provide written notice of a looming increase at least 90 days in advance.
Before Gov. Bob Ferguson can weigh in, the bill will need to pass the House and Senate before Sunday, the last day of session.
State Sen. Emily Alvarado, a West Seattle Democrat and the bill's prime sponsor, called the updated version a significant compromise. It was the product of many changes, some of which Alvarado said she wishes lawmakers 'didn't have to make.'
'But nonetheless, I think this bill is incredibly significant for the state of Washington,' she said at Thursday's conference committee meeting. 'Because there are 40% of the people in this state who rent or live in manufactured housing, and under current law, they have zero protections for how high their rent will go.'
State Rep. Sam Low, a Lake Stevens Republican, said Thursday that the bill would be 'devastating for housing providers.'
'We need housing providers to be a part of the solution in the housing crisis that we have, and I hope that we can find a way through this, to find some common ground so that we have a solution and that works for everybody and not just one group over another,' he said during the meeting.
State Sen. Jessica Bateman of Olympia said rent stabilization is key to Democrats' affordable-housing strategy this session. Lawmakers have made huge strides on housing-supply bills, she said in a news release, 'but that's not all we must do.'
'Washingtonians know our housing crisis is out of control, and we need affordability relief now,' said Bateman, who chairs the Senate Housing Committee. 'People struggling to afford their home deserve a bill that responds to their concerns and meets their needs, and this proposal steps up to provide Washingtonians the protections they deserve.'
