Othello, Stevenson and Cowlitz are receiving a $25,000 grant each to help with affordable housing plans. | Pixabay
Othello, Stevenson and Cowlitz are receiving a $25,000 grant each to help with affordable housing plans. | Pixabay
The Washington State Department of Commerce (DOC) allocated three rural communities growth management grants of $25,000 each for their housing affordability plans.
With the grant funds from the DOC, Othello, Stevenson and Cowlitz Counties will develop housing action plans and adopt municipal code changes to make it easy for rural residents to access affordable housing, according to Washington State Wire. Last year, a larger program was enacted, but Othello, Stevenson and Cowlitz Counties didn't qualify for funding from it.
According to Washington State Wire, rental vacancy rates in many of the state’s rural communities don't meet the standard 7% to 8% threshold. The University of Washington’s Center for Real Estate Research concluded in a report that Washington’s apartment vacancy rate fell to 4.3% in spring 2019.
Middle and low-wage workers are leaving cities like Seattle and Tacoma because of increasing rents, adding to an existing affordable housing shortage in those parts, the DOC said in a statement.
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