The Starter Home Plan
A whole problem solution to the urgent need for affordable for sale houses statewide.
THE ROADMAP
A Statewide Blueprint for Starter Home Production
A forceful call to action and a comprehensive examination of what it will take to deliver sufficient production of for-sale homes affordable to Washington state households with low and moderate incomes. Rooted in analysis of contemporary research, best practices, and prior efforts to solve the problem, the Plan was shaped by stakeholders statewide and co-created by a project team with deep experience in all areas of the starter home ecosystem.
The Ecosystem Playbook
One of two application guides translating the Starter Home Plan into action. This Playbook maps actions and tasks for implementation of seven Plays—field-tested strategies used across industries and geographies.
Play #1. Establishing a Systems-Based Framework
Develop the capacity for a Washington state Offsite Industry Association (OIA) to unify fragmented efforts, drive standardization, and advocate for offsite housing solutions across permitting, financing, and workforce development.
Play #2. Cultivating Systems-Based Developers
Support a statewide network of emerging developers, with knowledge and incentives to adopt standardized offsite methods, share designs, collaborate on procurement synergies, and enter into integrated delivery partnerships.
Play #3. Adopting Statewide Standards
Implement a comprehensive statewide permitting and standards framework, including pre-approved plans and International Building Code (IBC) standards of the International Code Council (ICC), to streamline approvals and scale offsite housing production.
Play #4. Financing Infrastructure for Factories and Systems-Based Developers
Create new public-private financing mechanisms such as pre-purchase agreements, innovation funds, and revolving loans to support the capital needs of offsite producers and systems-based developers.
Play #5. Activating Land Clearinghouses
Establish regional land clearinghouses to identify, bank, and equitably distribute project-ready sites to developers committed to producing affordable starter homes.
Play #6. Enhancing Existing Legislation
Build on Washington’s HB 1110 and HB 1096 by expanding lot-splitting, streamlining permitting, and increasing income eligibility levels to enable more households to access starter homes.
Play #7. Fostering Industry Inputs
Grow the ecosystem of logistics firms and small, specialized businesses especially minority and women-owned, that support offsite construction through targeted investments, training, and coordination.
The Demonstration Program Playbook
The second application guide. This Playbook maps a formal evaluation of the Plan’s core premise: that systems-based approaches using offsite methods can deliver high-quality homes more efficiently, at lower cost, and with greater consistency than conventional methods.
What does the demonstration program entail?
» Implementation of a master permit program through the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I).
» Development of standardized, site-agnostic building designs deployable across multiple jurisdictions.
» Testing of innovative contracting and financing structures.
» Deployment of multiple offsite construction methodologies.
» Rigorous data collection and analysis of effectiveness.