Fifteen Lake County municipalities identified with critical affordable housing supply deficiencies
Fifteen municipalities in Lake County have critical shortages of available affordable housing, according to the latest data from the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA).
Local governments are mandated to develop an affordable housing plan if the supply of affordable units dips below 10% of the entire housing stock, according to 2003 state law that also instructs IHDA to collect the affordability data.
Local governments in Lake County make up more than one-third of the IHDA list of 44 places with less than 10% of affordable housing units, including: Highland Park, Lake Forest, Libertyville, Deerfield, Long Grove, Lincolnshire and more.
Most of the municipalities had a larger share of affordable housing five years ago, the last time the IHDA compiled the data per state law.
Kristen Faust, executive director of IHDA, said there has been progress in the affordable housing stock during the nearly two decades IHDA has been collecting the data. The 2023 list has two fewer municipalities than the 2018 list, and 10 fewer than 2013.
“We need more affordable housing across the state, and we have seen communities use (IHDA affordability data) as a tool to move forward,” Faust said. “We’re hoping this new list will help some additional communities do some more research and planning to figure out how to move forward and create more units.”
The affordability share is calculated using census data. Faust noted a statistical comparison of the 2018 and 2023 data is, “like comparing apples and oranges,” because the census changed it’s method of collection between those five years.
Three days before the IHDA released the 2023 data, the Libertyville Board of Trustees voted last week to abandon an attainable housing ordinance that would have mandated all new housing construction to market at least 15% of the available units at affordable prices.
Libertyville’s affordable housing supply dropped to 9.3%, necessitating an affordable housing plan from the village. In 2018, the village’s affordable supply was at 15.4% so the village was exempt from needing an affordable housing plan.
Mayor Donna Johnson said the village was already accomplishing affordable housing goals without an ordinance, through relationships between developers and the village’s staff.
“Having a law in place is not the only way to get compliance,” Johnson said last week, adding that an ordinance could be revisited if anything changes.
Johnson denied a request for a follow-up interview to discuss the statewide affordability data, released on Dec. 15.
For the local governments seeing a decrease in the affordable housing supply, Faust said it’s likely due to community growth outpacing the number of affordable units.
“Even though five years, (the community) had enough affordable units, those same units may no longer be affordable,” Faust said. “Or you’ve grown some as a community, you’ve grown some of your housing inventory, but you didn’t grow a commensurate amount of affordable units in order to stay above the 10%.”
Affordable housing, as defined by the IHDA, are units with prices affordable to homebuyers making 80% of the regional median household income, and renters with 60% of regional median income.
“We continue to see cost of housing go up faster than wages, so the cost of housing just becomes increasingly higher,” Faust said. “Out of reach means a higher percent of your income is being used to pay for housing costs, and that’s not affordable.”
For a two-person household with a $70,600 income, the IHDA lists the affordable price of a home as $171,667. For a single renter making $46,380, the IHDA defines affordable rent for a one-bedroom apartment as $1,242.
People with similar incomes, “are very much a part of the fabric of the community,” Faust said about a number of professions: social workers, teachers and service workers.
No way to get compliance
Cities and villages that don’t meet the 10% threshold have 18 months to develop and submit a plan to address the shortage to IHDA, but there is no way for the agency to enforce compliance, according to a spokesperson for IHDA.
The plan must address the number of affordable units needed to reach 10%, identify land or existing structures that would be appropriate for affordable housing, a description of conditions that don’t further fair housing practices and a plan to eliminate or mitigate those constraints with set goals for increasing the supply.
Local governments that submitted plans in 2018 can provide a summary or update to the previous plan.
Many municipalities don’t end up submitting a plan within the time frame, the IHDA spokesperson said.
Nineteen of the 46 municipalities with less than 10% of affordable housing in 2018 failed to submit a plan to address the shortage, Faust said.
Faust said there are a number of challenges a municipality faces when trying to increase the affordable housing supply, namely finding land for the housing, limited zoning and securing funding, like state or federal subsidies, for the development.
“All of those challenges are ultimately within a community’s control,” Faust said. Zoning is typically a local decision and subsidy funds, while “way oversubscribed,” she said, are still in the local government’s power to allocate funds to affordable housing.
Some places do see success in addressing the affordable housing supply.
In 2018, Green Oaks was on the list with only 3.5% of affordable housing supply. By 2023, affordable housing units made up 18.6% of Green Oaks’ housing stock.
Housing shortages are not an unknown issue in the county. A housing study commissioned by Lake County Partners found that new housing construction countywide is falling behind population growth.
In October, the study calculated a countywide need for 1,200 housing units for seniors with incomes less than $50,000, and an additional 6,700 units for families making less than $75,000 per year.
Lake County Community Development Administrator Brenda O’Connell said the IHDA’s statewide report on affordability provides more information on the deficiencies and both sources will be used by the county to address the affordable housing stock.
The county manages local and federal funding for affordable housing to be used for increasing the supply. Housing developers can apply annually for funding.
“The county is committed to be a resource, a partner and a leader in addressing the high cost of rental housing and homeownership,” O’Connell said in an email. “This issue will require diverse solutions to align with the needs of a diverse county.”
