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Affordable housing initiative for DuPage and Will counties to be greenlit under new Ellman law

SPRINGFIELD — A new law from State Senator Laura Ellman is set to give counties additional tools to support affordable housing development and address growing housing affordability challenges facing working families and middle-income residents.

“As housing costs continue to rise faster than incomes, more families are finding themselves priced out of the communities they work and live in,” said Ellman (D-Naperville). “This law will help local governments create more housing options while supporting mixed-income communities and long-term affordability.”

House Bill 4571 allows counties with populations between 750,000 and 2 million, as well as counties with executive forms of government and populations between 650,000 and 2 million, to take additional actions to support affordable housing development and preservation.

Under the law, eligible counties could acquire property, transfer land between units of local government, sell or lease property below market rate and offer financial incentives such as grants, loans and infrastructure improvements to encourage affordable housing construction.

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