WA’s most impactful housing bills 

MEDIA CONTACT: Martina Pansze, Sightline Institute, martina@sightline.org   

Full Article:  Washington Housing Bills to Watch in 2025 

OLYMPIA, WA – Washingtonians in cities big and small are struggling to afford homes and rents due to a deep statewide housing shortage. Regional, nonpartisan think tank Sightline Institute analyzed over two dozen housing-related bills under consideration in Olympia to identify the legislation that would best address housing costs. Priorities include:  

Parking Minimums (SB 5184, HB 1299) 

The Parking Reform and Modernization Act would cap how many parking spots local governments can mandate for new housing and commercial buildings and give full parking flexibility to certain building types, including daycares, senior living facilities, affordable housing, and small-footprint housing and commercial buildings. 

• Bill explainer: WA bill would cap excessive parking mandates 

• Report: Parking requirements in Washington jurisdictions 

• Unlock middle housing with parking reform 

• The 4 big reasons why states should ditch parking mandates 

Historic Landmarking (HB 1576, SB 5554) 

Historic landmarking is a way to respect Washington’s towns and cities’ past while building for their future. To honor the intent of designations and prevent weaponized landmarking, HB 1576 and SB 5554 would require owner consent for landmark nomination and set a minimum age of 40 years for a building to be nominated for landmark status.   

• Surprise! Your home is now a historic landmark (via Homes4WA)  

• When historic preservation clashes with housing affordability  

Legalize MDUs (HB 1443, SB 5332) 

Mobile Dwelling Units (MDUs) are a low-cost, fast-build, flexible housing solution. They meet a critical need while ensuring safe, inspection-approved hookups to water, sewer, and electricity services.   

• Q+A with MDU hookup installation pro Kol Peterson 

Sightline also identified transit-oriented development (SB 5604, HB 1491), small elevators (SB 5156), lot-splitting (1096) and other reforms as key tools to address Washington’s housing shortage.  

Read the full list of housing-related bills, and reach out to martina@sightline.org with questions about policy impacts. 

### 

Sightline Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank providing leading original analysis of housing, democracy, energy, and forests policy in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, British Columbia, and beyond.