The Seattle City Council on Friday signed off on the city’s long-term plan for absorbing growth over the next 20 years, a weighty several documents that will dictate how and where new homes may be built in Seattle.

The final product, which is a year late, reflects an agreement between Mayor Bruce Harrell and the nine members of the City Council that growth will happen and that Seattle must become denser. Years of a swelling population outpacing housing production have helped drive home prices and rents to where they are today. Though City Hall staff and politicians are not promising a quick return to the days of broadly affordable housing, they are hoping to provide the supply needed to ease pressure on future renters and homebuyers.

“I think we’re showing the public that we can act as a

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