City of Kenmore Washington
Home MenuNews List
The More Your Know: Housing Edition Part I
The city council’s second priority is to preserve and increase availability of all types of housing and this is an important topic for our community. The City is committed to providing information to our community to answer commonly asked questions and increase awareness of local housing issues. This is the first in a series of informational posts about housing and we hope this information is helpful as we all build a common understanding of housing issues in Kenmore.
What is STEP Housing?
STEP Housing stands for Emergency Shelters, Transitional Housing, Emergency Housing and Permanent Supportive Housing. These housing types serve vulnerable populations, including people who are currently unhoused. You can learn more about STEP housing, including how to be involved in the City of Kenmore STEP Advisory Committee on the City’s STEP Housing webpage.
What do we mean when we say affordable housing?
When public organizations talk about affordable housing, they are typically referring to housing for those at a community’s lowest income levels. At the same time, many residents are struggling to afford housing at all income levels. In this series, we will be talking about data including a Department of Commerce estimate that 1.1 million new homes will be needed in Washington in the next twenty years, and the majority of those homes need to be affordable to households at the lowest income levels. These affordable housing developments often require income-eligibility at different tiers of Area Median Income (AMI). The most common levels are under 30% AMI and between 40-60% AMI. This housing usually involves funding from federal, state, county and city sources.
Source: Washington State Department of Commerce
Learn more about:
- Terms: NUHSA Housing and Homelessness Glossary of Terms
- Available Housing: ARCH Affordable Apartment List
- Area Median Income:
- Household Income in Kenmore: Regional Affordable Housing Dashboard
Scroll down to “Jurisdictional housing affordability snapshots” and choose Kenmore; below is a snapshot of Kenmore Households by AMI level from that site.
- Household Income in King County
- 2024 Income & Rent Limits for Affordable Housing Developments (2025 not yet available)