WA rent cap for 2026 announced under Gov. Ferguson’s landmark bill
Jul 18, 2025, 5:14 PM | Updated: 5:16 pm
An apartment building in Seattle. (Photo: @SounderBruce via Flickr Creative Commons)
(Photo: @SounderBruce via Flickr Creative Commons)
The Washington State Department of Commerce announced the rent cap for 2026.
The maximum allowable rent increase for 2026 is 9.683%, according to a news release from the Department of Commerce Friday.
The cap will be in effect from January 1 to December 31, 2026.
Rent cap for 2026 aligns with House Bill 1217
In May, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed into law landmark House Bill (HB) 1217, which improves housing stability for tenants subject to the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act and the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act by limiting rent increases, as stated on the Washington State Legislature’s website.
Therefore, the Department of Commerce is required to publish the percentage for all rental units subject to the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act.
Two amendments were added to HB 1217 by the Senate, changing the cap from a flat 7% to a choice of whichever is lower between a 7% raise with inflation or a flat 10%. The second amendment exempts single-family homes, which represent approximately 38% of Washington renters.
The bill also bars landlords from raising rents during the first 12 months of a new tenancy. The rent-increase cap for manufactured and mobile homes is set at 5%.
The maximum annual rent increase percentage will be posted each year on the Landlord Resource Center webpage, shortly after the mid-July release of June data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Department of Commerce noted.
Contributing: Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest
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