Seattle plans 2 more tiny home villages to house homeless
Jul 31, 2025, 5:04 AM
Tiny houses on display. (Photo: Matt Pitman, KIRO Newsradio)
(Photo: Matt Pitman, KIRO Newsradio)
The City of Seattle and the nonprofit Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) plan to open more than 100 new tiny homes in two villages this fall.
This would bring the number of tiny home villages the city has established to transition the homeless out of tents and derelict RVs to 13 — but critics said it fails to provide a long-term solution to homelessness.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell appeared to address that in a news release, which announced the new villages.
“Expanding available shelter is part of our broader, multi-layered strategy to meet urgent needs while simultaneously tackling root causes and increasing affordable permanent housing,” he stated.
The new communities would provide security, hygiene facilities, and storage as well as “a full range of tailored supportive services,” Harrell added.
Money for tiny homes would come from city’s budget
The two villages will be paid for by $5.9 million, included in the city’s 2025 budget.
It is unclear where they’d be located, but Harrell’s office said “LIHI will conduct community outreach in potential village location through mid-August,” and a site will be chosen “pending the success of those efforts.”
The city’s Unified Care Team (UCT) will be tasked with reaching out to people who are living in tents and RVs, and offering to move them into the new tiny homes.
Harrell said UCT efforts resulted in an 80% decrease in homeless camps between 2022 and 2024.
The latest tiny home project has the support of King County Executive Shannon Braddock who stated, “This is the type of action we need — more shelter and more services,” and Downtown Seattle Association President and CEO Jon Scholes, who said “These new tiny home villages will help get people inside and off sidewalks, into a more stable and supporting environment.”
The latest Point-In-Time Count found that 16,868 people were unhoused in King County in 2024, which was higher than the previous count in 2022.
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