Executive Summary
The demand for affordable housing for both renters and homeowners in Illinois far outpaces the supply. By one estimate, Chicago and its suburbs need more than 227,000 additional rental homes to meet the needs of families living at or below 50% of the region’s median income, not to mention a dearth of options for working-class families looking to put down roots and purchase a home. And, because of extensive legal, procedural, and social barriers, construction of these desperately needed units beyond the communities where they already exist has been extraordinarily difficult.
These barriers are as pervasive now as they were 20 years ago, when Illinois’ housing advocacy community (including Impact for Equity) began to advocate for a tool to increase the amount of affordable housing in job and opportunity rich communities in Illinois. As a result of that advocacy, the Affordable Housing Planning & Appeal Act was signed into law in 2003.
The need for affordable housing is constant, however, and housing advocates and legislators have regularly returned to the law over the last 20 years with the goal of tweaking it to make it more effective. This issue brief provides an overview of the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act, including its updated planning and appeals processes.
