MOORE’S SUMMARY: With the most far-reaching elements of Gov. JB Pritzker’s Building Up Illinois Developments (BUILD) housing proposal stalled, the Illinois Realtors are moving forward with an “accelerator” program intended to help local leaders identify ways to remove barriers and speed up the development of new housing.
WHAT IT DOES: The program, dubbed the Illinois Housing Supply Accelerator, will bring local decision-makers and housing stakeholders together to examine barriers to boosting housing supply, such as zoning restrictions, permitting delays, impact fees, infrastructure costs and financing gaps.
Illinois Realtors CEO Jeff Baker told Capitol News Illinois that the organization’s been working on the proposal since 2024 and planned to launch earlier this year but put it on hold as they went all-in for Pritzker’s BUILD proposal.
That plan, which would have permitted multi-unit housing and accessory dwelling units by right on nearly all properties zoned for residential use, established statewide timelines for inspections and reviews and allowed third-party inspectors if municipalities missed deadlines, failed amid significant opposition from local government officials.
The opposition, led by the Illinois Municipal League, decried BUILD’s one-size-fits-all nature. While Pritzker and other proponents, including the Illinois Realtors, said a statewide solution was necessary to meet the gravity of the housing supply crisis.
BLUEPRINT: But now the state’s preeminent real estate industry group appears to be singing from the same song sheet, touting their “flexible, really customizable blueprint that they can all use to find their own solutions.”
“Our thought this summer, coming out of session was: Let’s give them this blueprint that we’ve been kind of trying to work on for the last year or so, and give them a roadmap to say ‘no matter what kind of community you come from and what yours looks like, this can work for you,'” Baker said.
The Illinois Realtors are recommending that communities create “accelerator” working groups of 10 to 20 people to evaluate local housing conditions, identify barriers to housing production, and develop practical recommendations to expand housing opportunities.
They recommend that the groups include municipal leadership like the mayor or city manager; real estate interests like realtors or developers; local lenders and mortgage professionals, and community partners like major employers, school district officials and the business community. The groups would be advisory rather than regulatory or decision-making.
Baker said the organization talked to more than two dozen mayors while formulating the program and plans to send personal invitations to 60 mayors to participate. He said they will still push for state and federal solutions to the housing crisis, too.
“Our view of it all along has always been there is a role for every level of government,” Baker said.
THE PROBLEM: A study published last year by the University of Illinois found that the state is about 142,000 units of housing short and would need to build 227,000 over the next five years to keep up with demand. That equals about 45,000 new homes a year — nearly double the five-year average of about 19,000 built annually between 2019 and 2024.
As a result, home prices have spiked 37% over five years while active home listings decreased 64%. At the same time, new construction permits are down 13%.
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