Housing density bill passes WA House on day one of 2024 session

State lawmakers are wasting no time getting going on their 2024 housing agenda.

On Monday, the first day of the 2024 legislative session, the House of Representatives voted 94-4 to pass House Bill 1245, which would allow single-family parcels to be divided into two lots to incentivize the development of more and smaller single-family homes.

“Washington is producing the fewest housing units per household of any state because we are hampered by restrictive zoning laws and an antiquated Growth Management Act,” said lead sponsor Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, in an emailed statement after the bill’s passage Monday. “This bill would remove unnecessary barriers to provide Washingtonians more homeownership opportunities and the ability to develop their own property.”

The bill aims to allow for denser development within existing single-family neighborhoods. And because the houses will be smaller by necessity, the hope is that they will be sold for less than the typical large single-family home built today.

Barkis also said that “lot splitting could be a major source of affordable housing for young professionals, seniors and everyone in between.”

A nearly identical version of the bill passed out of the House in 2023, but died in Senate committee without receiving a vote.

If it passes this year, Washington property owners in any residential zone that allows single-family units would be allowed to split a lot and sell it for construction of a second unit. The bill stipulates that each lot could be no smaller than 1,500 feet and must be at least 40% the size of the original lot.

For many cities this would be a marked change. Existing zoning laws, which vary by city, set minimum lot sizes for single-family homes. The longtime standard in Seattle, for example, was one unit per a minimum of 5,000 square feet in single-family zones.

The impact would be muted in Seattle because single-family homeowners can already build two accessory dwelling units on any residential lot — one attached to the main house and one free-standing. Accessory dwelling units can be sold to individual owners in Seattle through condominium agreements.

But even for Seattle, there could be benefits. In its analysis of the 2023 version of the bill, the think tank Sightline said that lot splitting would allow for simpler ownership and easier mortgage financing than backyard cottage condo setups.

More generally, Sightline said, lot splitting would help create starter homes, provide lower-priced entry points to amenity-rich single-family neighborhoods, disincentivize demolition of older homes for construction of McMansions and more.

Lot splitting is just one of many housing bills lawmakers hope to tackle in the short 60-day session. Others include rent stabilization, increasing density near transit and finding a new dedicated revenue source for subsidized affordable housing construction.

HB1245 now heads to the Senate for consideration.