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. The Washington State Department of Commerce announced the rent cap for 2026. (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聽9.683%, according to a 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 , 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 .
Therefore, the Department of Commerce is required to publish the percentage for all rental units subject to the .
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 , 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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