SEATTLE — Economic headwinds may be impacting a Seattle program that taps new development to fund affordable housing.
The city’s Mandatory Housing Affordability program, which requires developers to set aside units on site for affordable housing or pay fees instead, generated about $75 million in fees in 2022, down 1.5% from 2021, according to city data released Tuesday. Developers set aside 66 units in 2022, down 38% from 107 units the previous year.
The city didn’t immediately provide a reason for the drop, but data from the Seattle Office of Housing shows developers paid fees on, or set aside units in, 260 permitted projects in 2022, down about 10% from 290 projects in 2021.
