Building Belonging.
Providing homes for the people who power our economy
Seattle Social Housing Developer aims to provide housing to low and middle income households who are rent-burned, can’t afford market-rate housing, but earn too much to qualify for affordable housing.
These are the people who power our economy: teachers, firefighters, service workers, and many others who are rent-burdened and increasingly displaced from Seattle.
Permanently Affordable
Cross-Class Communities
Climate Forward
Publicly Owned
Working together toward a more affordable city
Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD) is a new, innovative public development authority created through the passage of I-135 in 2023.
Our mission is to develop, own, lease, and maintain mixed-income housing that is permanently affordable, owned as a public asset forever, and designed for people priced out of market-rate housing.
What is Social Housing?
Social housing exists in various forms throughout the world to provide secure and affordable housing for people who can’t afford market-rate rents. In our Seattle model, housing will be publicly owned in perpetuity and offer the long-term affordability that creates stable living environments, promotes social equity, and prevents displacement.
News & Updates from SSHD
Social housing coming to Seattle this year
In an extended conversation, Seattle Social Housing Developer interim CEO Tiffani McCoy discussed the developer’s acquisition and construction plans, as well as unresolved financial and governance questions.
Apr. 14, 2026 — In recent years, it has become commonplace for American housing advocates and elected officials to make the pilgrimage to Vienna. They come to learn about the Austrian capital’s government housing, famous the world over for its modest rents, beautiful architecture, and popularity among rich and poor residents alike.
Despite all of the interest in Vienna’s social housing, there’s really only one American city that is seriously seeking to copy this model whole cloth.
Social housing is well on its way to delivering on its promises to Seattle
There’s been a lot going on with social housing in Seattle, and everyone seems to have an opinion about it. In a sense, that’s a good thing. We want the public to pay attention to what the Seattle Social Housing Developer — the Public Development Authority established in 2023 to build social housing in the city — is doing. After all, a majority of the public voted to establish this new agency, and so it only makes sense that people have a vested interest in our work.