2018 ANNUAL REPORT 7 HOMES INCREASING HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES King County lacks an estimated 156,000 units of housing affordable to households earning less than 80 percent of the region’s median income. This problem is exacerbated by the loss of about 36,000 affordable units over the past decade due to redevelopment and increasing rents.1 To slow this widening gap, KCHA employs an aggressive acquisition strategy to preserve existing affordable housing in tandem with new development efforts. PROTECTING THE REGION’S AFFORDABLE HOUSING INVENTORY KCHA targets the preservation of affordable housing in communities at the highest risk of redevelopment. In 2018, with the help of the City of Kirkland, we acquired Houghton Court, located within a half mile of Kirkland’s Google campus. Six additional properties in high-opportunity neighborhoods or adjacent to planned light-rail stations were placed under contract and will be acquired in 2019. These strategic acquisitions stabilize existing communities and the region’s lower- and moderate-wage workforce. When teachers, firefighters, nurses, and other critical service providers can live near where they work, our community thrives. 1 King County Affordable Housing Task Force, 2018. The median income for a family of four was $103,400 in 2018.