Legacy Homeowner Development Support

About this Project

We are developing new tools and supports to help lower- and moderate-income homeowners, particularly legacy homeowners of color, understand, explore, and pursue their options for adding housing to their property.

Background

In January 2026, Seattle updated its Neighborhood Residential (NR) zoning standards, expanding housing choices and creating new options for how property owners use their land. In compliance with Washington House Bill 1110, Seattle’s updated zoning now allows at least four units on all residential lots.

While these changes expand opportunities to produce rental income, meet changing household needs, or generate wealth, legacy homeowners with low or fixed incomes often face barriers that prevent them from achieving these benefits. Particularly for first-time homeowner–developers, these barriers can include the complexity of design and permitting, limited financial resources and difficulty qualifying for financing, a lack of knowledge about their land’s development potential, the burden overseeing construction, and mistrust of developers and lenders.

Given these challenges, legacy homeowners often cannot realize their development potential for their land, resulting in various impacts, including wider wealth gaps, underproduction of housing, and displacement of longtime residents who sell and leave or struggle with rising costs for maintenance and property taxes.

What's Happening Now?

To overcome these barriers, we are developing a suite of supports for lower-income homeowners seeking to undertake development.

HUD PRO Housing Grant

We have funding to support lower-income homeowners through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) grant. This summer we will announce a Request for Proposals (RFP) to select one or more consultants to provide education, technical assistance, and pre-development supports for legacy homeowners seeking to add housing to their property.

Partnership for ADU Development (PAD) Pilot

We are also seeking to pilot a novel co-development model called the Partnership for ADU Development (PAD) to give legacy homeowners a pathway for adding housing to create rental income and spur infill housing without taking on the debt, risk, and the burden of undertaking development on their own. For more information, read our one-page PAD summary.

ADUniverse 2.0

For residents interested in understanding their property’s development potential, we are also overhauling our ADUniverse website with new pre-approved plans for ADUs and middle housing, guidance about recent zoning changes, and property-specific information.

Related Programs and Supports

Other City departments, agencies, and community organizations provide support that legacy homeowners and lower-income homeowners may benefit from.

Additional Resources

Planning and Community Development

Rico Quirindongo, Director
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 94788, Seattle, WA, 98124-7088
Phone: (206) 386-1010
opcd@seattle.gov

Sign Up for Latest Updates

Subscribe

The Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) develops policies and plans for an equitable and sustainable future. We partner with neighborhoods, businesses, agencies and others to bring about positive change and coordinate investments for our Seattle communities.