Funding Announcements & Application
At least once per year the Office of Housing publishes a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Rental Housing Program. The notice describes specific funding priorities and requirements for each available fund source, of which the Seattle Housing Levy is traditionally the largest. OH's funding announcements are often part of a larger combined announcement of funds for homeless housing and services across King County.
For homeownership projects, a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) is published twice per year. The latest Homeownership NOFA was published June 2023.
Preparing Projects for Application
The Office of Housing's Rental Housing Program funds the development of affordable rental housing in Seattle using the Housing Levy Rental Preservation and Production Program funds, federal funds, and other fund sources. The steps below describe basic steps prior to application for Rental Housing Program funds.
Priority Review and Contact List (Updated August 2020)
Pre-Application Meeting
Project sponsors must schedule a pre-application meeting with Office of Housing lending staff to determine eligibility prior to application. OH encourages pre-application meetings in the early stages of project development to allow for meaningful feedback and guidance in relation to OH funding requirements and priorities. Please contact Capital Investments Manager Laurie Olson.
Certification of Consistency with Consolidated Plan
To be eligible to apply for OH funding, and as requirement for certain other non-City of Seattle funding sources, proposed projects must receive a letter from the Office of Housing that certifies that the project is consistent with the City of Seattle Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development. Applicants must provide a complete Consistency Application at least 30 days in advance of when the certification is needed. Please plan accordingly.
Download the Consistency Application and follow the instructions to submit.
Siting Determination
To be eligible to apply for OH funding, proposed projects must comply with the Development Siting Policy described in Chapter 10.I of the Housing Funding Policies. Siting determinations are provided by email and copies must be included with applications for funding from OH.
To request a Siting Determination, please send an email to sheila.viswanathan@seattle.gov with the subject line “Siting Determination Request” and ALL of the following information about the proposed project.
- Name of the proposed project
- Full address, including ZIP code
- Total number of units
- Complete counts of units by AMI restriction (e.g., 10 units at 30% AMI, 20 units at 50% AMI, 1 unrestricted, etc.)
- Unit counts by AMI must add up to the stated total
- Name of the sponsoring organization
- Name of the development consultant/organization, if different from sponsor
- Brief general description of the population to be housed
- Anticipated timeframe to apply for OH funding
Important:
- Any missing information will delay the process. Please allow at least 30 days for processing.
- Applicants should request a Siting Determination as soon as they have solidified the unit AMI details of the proposed project enough that they will not change before application to OH.
- Siting Determinations are valid for one year from the date they are provided unless withdrawn before then by the requestor. It is the responsibility of project sponsors to request new Siting Determinations once old ones expire. OH staff will not send reminders about expiring Siting Determinations.
- If you receive a Siting Determination but decide not to pursue development further before it expires, please advise OH.
In addition, affordable housing developers can request information about the current status of potential development sites with regard to the Development Siting Policy for exploratory purposes. This information is provided as a courtesy and is not the same as an official Siting Determination. To request this information, developers may send an email with the full address of the site in question and the subject line “Development Siting Check” to sheila.viswanathan@seattle.gov.
Neighborhood Notification & Community Relations Guidelines
As part of being deemed consistent with the Consolidated Plan, projects must perform certain neighborhood notification and community outreach. The exact requirements are summarized in the Neighborhood Notification and Community Relations Guidelines. Neighbors within 500-feet must be notified of the proposed project as part of this process. To create a list, please visit the King County Parcel Viewer.