Please note that he IHDA Opportunity Areas have been updated on the website. IHDA Opportunity Areas are determined for purposes related to the State of Illinois’ Low Income Housing
Tax Credit Qualified Allocation Plan. Please visit Opportunity Areas section for more information and to access our updated Opportunity Areas map.
We are pleased to announce the release of our Fiscal Year 2017 Annual Report. 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of IHDA by the Illinois Legislature. This Annual Report takes a look back at milestones throughout our history as we financed over 255,000 units of affordable housing to support healthy, economically integrated communities throughout the state.
Are you among the hardest hit and need help paying your mortgage? Help is available through the Illinois Hardest Hit program. Homeowners who have experienced a 15% reduction in income due to a hardship may be eligible for up to $35,000 in reinstatement and/or ongoing monthly mortgage assistance while working to regain financial stability.
We’re excited to release the new IHDA FY2016 Annual Report. Whether it was helping a family find an affordable place to live, giving local governments the tools they need to create vibrant neighborhoods, or generating more opportunities for the state’s development partners to build and preserve affordable housing, our investments changed lives and communities in 2016.
The 2017 Illinois Governor’s Conference on Affordable Housing co-hosted by the Illinois Housing Development Authority and the Illinois Housing Council will take place on March 13 & 14, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago Hotel, 151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601. Register today at www.ilgovernorsconference.com.
The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) is now accepting applications for two programs to fund the development and operation of Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) for special needs populations and persons with disabilities, including residents who are transitioning out of nursing homes and into community living.
We’re excited to announce that IHDA has re-opened the Illinois Hardest Hit Program. Homeowners who have experienced a 15% reduction in income due to a hardship may be eligible for up to $35,000 in reinstatement and/or ongoing monthly mortgage assistance while they work to regain financial stability.
We are pleased to announce that IHDA has relocated offices. Our new address is: 111 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 1000, Chicago, IL 60601. Please note that our main phone number (312.836.5200) and our email addresses will remain unchanged.
The Illinois housing market closed on a high note, with December posting increases in both sales and median prices. According to the Illinois Association of Realtors®, the strong month capped off a 2015 housing market that showed a return to a more balanced market with total year-end sales and median price gains surpassing 2014. However, that’s not to say that the impacts of the foreclosure crisis are gone. In fact, there’s real work left to be done.
New research by the Regional Economic Applications Laboratory (REAL) at the University of Illinois shows that homeowners who escaped foreclosure themselves, but live in neighborhoods hit the hardest by foreclosures, face an additional threat – lower selling prices. REAL looked at sales data from Chicago neighborhoods between 2008 and 2012 to determine the impact foreclosures were having on nearby properties. The findings: prices for non-distressed properties in the hardest hit neighborhoods declined by thousands of dollars.
To help communities and homeowners fight back, the Illinois Housing Development Authority created the Blight Reduction Program (BRP) in 2014 under the Hardest Hit Fund Program (HHF) and funded through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a U.S. Treasury managed resource dedicated to foreclosure prevention and neighborhood stabilization.
“The Blight Reduction Program is a great tool that allows us to put federal funds to work in Illinois communities,” said Audra Hamernik, IHDA Executive Director. “Our goal, when choosing partners is to collaborate with communities that have a demonstrated need, but also have elements in place that we can build upon to ensure our investment makes the greatest impact possible. Through BRP, we are able to address the economic, public safety and quality of life issues abandoned and foreclosed properties impose on our communities and our citizens.”
According to the Center for Community Progress, for every dollar spent to clean and green vacant properties, neighbors experience $224 in increased property value and the community see an additional $7.43 in tax revenue.
Through the BRP, IHDA works directly with units of local government and not-for-profit partners to help decrease preventable foreclosure and stabilize neighborhoods. Specifically, the program allows communities to target blighted, vacant residential properties for demolition, greening and eventual reuse, or redevelopment.
Winnebago County received funding under BRP for an innovative plan submission that included training unemployed and underemployed people to deconstruct vacant homes. Working with Comprehensive Community Solutions (CSS), a not-for-profit whose focus is ‘building human capital’, the county was awarded $350,000 in March 2015 and $840,000 in February 2016 to acquire and demolish approximately 35 blighted properties.