Affordable Housing Planning Resources

Guidance for Updating Your Housing Element webinar and PowerPoint slides

Guidance for Developing a Housing Action Plan webinar and PowerPoint slides

Guidance for Developing a Housing Needs Assessment webinar and PowerPoint slides

List of Anti-Displacement Strategies from HAPs and HAP Guidance

Washington Center for Real Estate Research's Housing Market Data Toolkit 

• Data provides easy access to housing data for local governments in Washington. The toolkit provides data for all cities over 10,000 population, and for all counties in the state.  This data can be used as a source of information during the preparation of housing needs assessments, developed as part of local comprehensive plans. As directed in RCW 36.70A.610, new data sets covering aspects of the rental market, land availability and construction activity will be added over time. 
• A Peninsula Planners’ Forum on February 22, 2021 shared more information about the housing data and how to use it to understand your community’s housing market. The webinar recording can be accessed here, with information on the Housing Market Data Toolkit starting at 1:16:00 and information on how to use this and other data to determine your community’s housing needs starting at 2:27:10. The PowerPoint presentations for the webinar can be found on the Regional Planners’ Forum webpage, under the “Past Regional Planning Forums” heading.

The Local Housing Solutions website provides a variety of resources to help guide policy decisions, including a quick tool using readily available data to get a picture of your community's housing needs with their Housing Needs Assessment Tool (in Beta as of 3/24/21).

Additional information on public engagement during social distancing:

• See MRSC’s article titled Engaging in a Pixilated Public Square, which includes:
  • Video/teleconferencing platforms for public meetings (features, comments and costs)
  • Other online platforms for public engagement
• "Equitable Engagement in a Remote World" by Meeting of the Minds
• "Guide to Virtual (Hazard Mitigation) Planning Meetings" by FEMA
• See “What are some good technology options for remote public engagement?” under the Public Meetings and Public Hearings section. Additional resources on that page from MRSC.
• MRSC’s Open Public Meetings Act guidance during COVID (scroll down)
• Practices for Engagement in the Time of COVID by Salt Lake City Civic Engagement Team