Chicago City Council Unanimously Passes Housing Ordinance to Streamline Affordable Housing Access
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2026
CONTACT:
Zindy Marquez
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
zmarquez@clccrul.org
312.202.3657
Chicago City Council Unanimously Passes Housing Ordinance to Streamline Affordable Housing Access
Alderpeople, the Department of Housing, Chicago Housing Initiative, Access Living, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, and advocates launch working group and pilot program to connect tenants to affordable housing
CHICAGO, IL: Today, City Council unanimously passed the Centralized Affordable Housing Listing Portal Ordinance, marking a historic step forward in the fight for housing equity. Championed by Alderwoman Maria Hadden (49th Ward) and Alderman Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward) alongside a broad coalition of city agencies, civil rights organizations, and housing advocates, the Ordinance authorizes the launch of an innovative pilot program for an affordable housing listing and search portal designed to connect prospective tenants directly with affordable housing units across the city. The Ordinance also establishes a working group to actively monitor the pilot program to inform final recommendations for a permanent affordable housing portal.
Chicago’s City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate unanimously recommended the Ordinance last week.
For years, low-income residents looking for affordable housing in Chicago have had to navigate a disjointed, opaque, and piecemeal system. The affordable housing portal will make it easier for housing seekers to find and apply for affordable housing; it will also help elected officials and community-based organizations more easily assist community members in locating available affordable units, eliminating the complex web that currently exists.
The Department of Housing has proposed collaborating with the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) to use its portal, ilhousingsearch.org, to launch a pilot program right away. The pilot program will run for two years before sunsetting. The portal will list:
Over 3,700 units right away
All future affordable units that receive any City funding
All future ARO units
Tenants will be able to locate multiple units and waitlists at the same time. They will also be able to access property management information, approximate waitlist times, connect to the housing provider’s application, see specific information (e.g., number of bedrooms and accessibility features) for each unique available unit, and be apprised of any tenant preferences (e.g., veteran or disability preferences).
“After years of tireless advocacy, I’m thrilled with today’s passage of the Centralized Affordable Housing Portal Ordinance,” said Alderwoman Maria Hadden (49th). “The ordinance—which launches a pilot program and establishes a working group—is an instrumental step to consolidate a fractured and piecemeal system under one simplified platform, helping to connect individuals more quickly to crucial, stable housing.”
"Finding affordable housing should not feel like navigating an obstacle course," said Emily Coffey, Director of the Equitable Community Development and Housing at Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. "By passing the Centralized Affordable Housing Listing Portal Ordinance, Chicago is choosing to reform a broken, fragmented system with a centralized, collaborative approach that treats housing access with the urgency it deserves."
“By having a program that allows people to be anywhere in the city and automatically know that they qualify for that unit and that unit is available, we have just saved people who are in desperate straits not just time, but also resources—and that’s a precious thing,” said Don Washington, Executive Director of the Chicago Housing Initiative.
“We need a coherent, transparent, anti-racist housing system where the brunt of finding a place to live is not on those struggling to survive the day,” said Iliana Haven, Housing Community Organizer at Access Living. “This pilot program will allow organizations such as Access Living and elected officials to assist in getting people housed and monitoring where the affordable housing is and who receives them.”
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Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of civil rights lawyers and advocates working to secure racial equity and economic opportunity for all. We provide legal representation through partnerships with the private bar, and we collaborate with grassroots organizations and other advocacy groups to implement community-based solutions that advance civil rights. For more information, visit www.clccrul.org.
Chicago Housing Initiative
The mission of the Chicago Housing Initiative (CHI) is to amplify the power of low-income Chicago residents to preserve, improve, and expand low-cost rental housing, stabilize communities facing displacement, and advance racial and economic equity and inclusion across all of Chicago's diverse neighborhoods. For more information, visit www.chicagohousinginitiative.org/.
Access Living
Access Living fights for fairness, defends freedoms (as protected by the ADA and other civil-rights laws), and champions equal opportunity. We are located in Chicago and have a long history of doing what it takes to make sure people with disabilities can live the lives they choose. Our staff and board are made up of mostly people who have disabilities because we believe that people with disabilities are their own best advocates. We champion the mantra “nothing about us without us” and use it as a guiding principle in our work each and every day. For more information, visit www.accessliving.org/.