What is AHPAA?
The Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act (AHPAA) works similar to a builder’s remedy.
Localities with more than 1000 residents must have at least 10% of their housing stock classified as affordable. The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) designates localities that do not meet that 10% threshold to be NELGs (non-exempt local governments). The 2023 NELGs are listed here. When NELGs wrongly reject proposals that include at least 20% affordable housing (or approve projects with restrictions that make the development “infeasible”), developers and local organizations have the option of bringing an appeal to the State Housing Appeals Board, which can overturn local decisions.
To learn more about AHPAA, see these resources:
Illinois has a Builders’ Remedy! (May 2025), YIMBY Law Blog Post
Building an Affordable Illinois: Many High-Cost Suburbs Continue to Violate State Affordable Housing Law (Nov. 2025), Impact for Equity Report
Advocacy In Action: An Impact for Equity Issue Brief (Jan. 2024), Impact for Equity Brief
Housing Proposals
If there is a housing proposal in your community that is experiencing opposition, despite being compliant with local laws, or just a housing project you want us to support, fill out our Housing Proposal Support form below. Submissions are reviewed every Monday at 11:30am CT.
To check whether a housing proposal has been submitted, check out this link to our housing proposal database.
How can YOU help YIMBY Law enforce AHPAA?
If you or your organization is interested in tracking and supporting housing proposals in NELGs, please reach out to our Research Attorneys, Jack@yimbylaw.org and Angela@yimbylaw.org.