The Puget Sound Regional Council has just released a report reviewing housing prices in Washington and no surprise, concludes housing costs too much. The basic rules of demand and supply drive the cost of homes, the less homes on the market, the more they will cost. Making it worse are high interest rates and recent inflationary pressure caused by the federal government’s reckless monetary policy during COVID. Homeowners are holding onto homes financed with low interest rate loans, the threats of bans on natural gas and high permitting costs and delays are driving the housing costs still higher.

The California housing market is in a similar state, but lawmakers there are doing something about it.

In a rare show of common sense, California is relaxing permitting and zoning laws to remove the hurdles for building housing more cost effectively and in areas that the state would not have considered just a few years ago. The net result is more, cheaper housing, something Washington could really use right now.

California Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) or “Yes in Gods Backyard”, removes government restrictions on religious or educational organizations building on their properties. SB 4 removes permitting delays from the California Environmental Quality Act or zoning challenges. According to The Center Square, this would open up 171,000 acres of land for development. While SB 4 has some significant restrictions which should be removed, at least the legislation is loosening some of the over-reach by state agencies which can add significant cost and delays to new construction.

California Senate Bill 423, (SB 423) streamlines the permitting process for developers in cities that are not meeting their statuary requirements for affordable housing. The bill adds to the provisions passed in Senate Bill 35 (SB 35) which require municipalities to meet specific housing requirements. SB 423 allows the developers to bypass most of the requirements on multi-modal projects which has helped California start to increase housing supply.

Here in Washington, bi-partisan efforts such as Washington Senate Bill 5792 (SB 5792) which re-classifies certain multi-unit developments and removes onerous permitting and review processes, can encourage more home development in the state. The more the state can do to remove the barriers to development, the more we will see the cost of homes go down.

Of course, there is no reason why the legislature couldn’t run legislation to ease permit requirements across the board, reducing housing costs, but SB4 and SB 423 offer a step in the right direction.

Washington legislators shouldn’t always look to California for answers, but in this case, California SB 4 and
SB 423 would help here in Washington too.