City Of Seattle To Add Two New Tiny House Villages

The City of Seattle is expanding its homelessness response with more than 100 new tiny houses across two planned villages designed to provide shelter and intensive support services for people experiencing chronic homelessness and complex behavioral health needs.

The initiative, announced by Mayor Bruce Harrell on Wednesday, is part of a coordinated effort to connect more people living outdoors with stable shelter while helping them transition to permanent housing.

“Addressing homelessness is a top priority for Seattle, and we’ll continue to invest in proven solutions to help our unhoused neighbors heal and get on a path to permanent housing and long-term stability,” said Harrell.

“Expanding available shelter is part of our broader, multilayered strategy to meet urgent needs while simultaneously tackling root causes and increasing affordable permanent housing. I want to thank LIHI for making these new tiny house villages possible and Councilmember Kettle for his efforts to advance this solution,” he added.

The city allocated $5.9 million in its 2025 budget to fund the startup and operation of the two villages. The King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) awarded contracts to the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), which will operate the sites.

One village will include about 60 tiny houses in partnership with CoLEAD, an organization that provides intensive case management and behavioral health support. The second will have about 44 units managed solely by LIHI. Both sites will offer security, hygiene facilities, laundry, storage, and onsite support staff with lived experience exiting homelessness.

Councilmember Bob Kettle said investing in shelter options like these has benefits that go beyond housing.

“From day one, a key pillar of our strategic framework has been public health and how it goes hand and hand with public safety,” said Kettle. “The CoLEAD program model—offering temporary lodging and intensive case management—shows that protecting public health also strengthens public safety by focusing on high impact areas.”

Referrals to the new villages will come from the Unified Care Team (UCT) and its outreach partners, who connect with people living in encampments. UCT’s approach has led to an 80% decrease in tent encampments from 2022 to 2024. Data also shows that private, secure shelter options like tiny houses make it more likely for people to accept offers to move indoors.

KCRHA reports that 46% of individuals who exited city-funded tiny house villages in 2024 moved into permanent housing, and just 4% returned to homelessness within six months.

Kelly Kinnison, CEO of KCRHA, said tiny house villages play a vital role in this progress.

“Tiny House Villages aren’t solely interim shelter — they’re an environment where our unhoused neighbors have a stable place to stay and receive critical services that help them rebuild their lives,” said Kinnison.

When the two new villages open, LIHI will operate 13 city-funded tiny house programs across Seattle. Each village will have a Good Neighbor Agreement and a Community Advisory Committee to maintain communication with surrounding neighborhoods.

Sharon Lee, LIHI’s executive director, said her organization is working quickly to establish the new sites.

“Two new tiny house villages will serve hundreds of people in the years to come,” Lee said. “Our goal is for vulnerable people to be able to move out of living in cold, wet tents and into heated tiny houses this winter.”

Both villages are set to open this fall.