Seat­tle city coun­cil mem­bers will con­sid­er a pro­pos­al to remove restric­tions on co-liv­ing devel­op­ments, known as con­gre­gate hous­ing or micro­hous­ing.

Accord­ing to the Capi­tol Hill Seat­tle Blog, the city first insti­tut­ed restric­tions a decade ago, lim­it­ing micro­hous­ing to cer­tain parts of the city. Now, “Pro­po­nents of the bill and spon­sor Tam­my Morales say the changes will help address Seat­tle’s hous­ing sup­ply while encour­ag­ing ‘a rel­a­tive­ly low­er cost hous­ing option with­out direct sub­sidy.’”

City reg­u­la­tions define con­gre­gate hous­ing as “a use in which sleep­ing rooms are inde­pen­dent­ly rent­ed and lock­able and pro­vide liv­ing and sleep­ing space, and res­i­dents share kitchen facil­i­ties and oth­er com­mon ele­ments with oth­er res­i­dents in a build­ing.”

Much like col­lege dorms, co-liv­ing spaces can low­er hous­ing costs for res­i­dents, offer more com­mon ameni­ties, and pro­vide access to sup­port­ive ser­vices and social oppor­tu­ni­ties.