Washington State Legislates Statewide Cohousing Development

Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill in March that clears the way for coliving. With rents across the state soaring and supply of affordable housing far below demand, the new law is aimed at boosting versatile and affordable options across the state, reports Lauren Rendahl with the Spokesman-Review.

The new law, which will go into effect in June, requires cities and counties to allow coliving permitting housing on residential lots where at least six multifamily housing units are permitted by January 2026 and prohibit regulations against their development.

“Additionally, local governments cannot mandate off-street parking within half a mile of a major transit stop or require more than one off-street parking space per sleeping unit for this housing style,” Rendahl writes.

Coliving, also known as cohousing, developments are a type of housing that is communal in nature, typically involving multiple units within a single home or a cluster of single-family homes or condos on a single lot that share common spaces. But their development is often prohibited by local zoning laws, including restrictions on the number of units per parcel, the relationships or number of occupants per unit, and off-street parking minimums (neighborhood residents often oppose these type of developments out of concern for increased demand for street parking). That said, major cities across the country, including Washington, D.C. and Houston, have been experimenting with cohousing in recent years as a way to provide affordable living options to residents.