The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to solicit applications for the 2026 Housing Rehabilitation Grant opportunity funded by the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Donor Name: Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
State: Illinois
County: Cook County (IL), DuPage County (IL), Kane County (IL), Lake County (IL), Madison County (IL), McHenry County (IL), Saint Clair County (IL), Will County (IL)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/27/2026
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
The purpose of grants relative to the Housing Rehabilitation (HR) Notice of Funding Opportunity is to provide units of general local government with funds to address housing needs of eligible lowto-moderate income (LMI) households. The program targets projects which preserve singlefamily, owner-occupied housing needing rehabilitation and encourage neighborhood revitalization. As this is a direct benefit activity, 100 percent of CDBG housing rehabilitation funds must benefit low-to-moderate income persons. CDBG funds can be used to rehabilitate only those homes occupied by families verified to be of low-to-moderate income. Project must rehabilitate a minimum of eight (8) homes.
Goals and Objectives
- To ensure that the State-administered program meets the intent of the federal Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, Congress has required that state-administered programs meet at least one of the following three national objectives:
- Benefiting low-to-moderate income (LMI) persons; or
- Aiding in the prevention or elimination of slums and blight; or
- Meeting other community development needs that pose a serious and immediate threat to the health and welfare of the community.
- To complement these federally-mandated objectives, the State has established the following specific objectives for the CDBG Program:
- Strengthen community economic development through the creation of jobs, stimulation of private investment and strengthening the tax base;
- Improve public infrastructure and eliminate conditions which are detrimental to health, safety and public welfare; and
- Conserve and expand the State’s housing stock in order to provide a decent home and a suitable living environment for persons of low-to-moderate income and the developmentally disabled.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding $15,000,000
- Award Range $300000 – $800000
Grant Period
2 years
Eligible Activities
- Labor and materials,
- Replacement of principal fixtures and components of existing structures;
- Water and sewer connections (if needed for code compliance):
- Initial homeowner warranty premium;
- Hazard insurance premium;
- Flood insurance premium;
- Conservation costs for water and energy efficiency;
- Garages where health & safety issues have been identified;
- Evaluating and treating lead-based paint; and
- Removal of architectural barriers that restrict the mobility and accessibility of elderly or severely disabled persons.
- Rehabilitation to a single-family, owner-occupied residential property that is also used as a place of business and is required to operate the business may be considered homeowner rehabilitation (as opposed to commercial rehabilitation) if the improvements provide general benefit to the residential occupants of the building.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible Applicants include:
- Only units of general local government (i.e., cities, villages, townships and counties) may apply for funding. County and township applicants should not include areas that are incorporated within a city or village. Incorporated areas must apply on their own behalf. Only units of local government recognized by the Illinois Constitution and able to support economic development activities on a sufficient scale are eligible to apply for Economic Development grant funding. This includes cities, villages, and counties.
- Local governments are limited in the number of applications which may be submitted and awarded in a program year. Units of local government may submit one application per competitive component per year. Communities that received a competitive grant in the previous year are not eligible to apply the following year. Applications that further a project in progress, whether funded with or without CDBG funds, will not be accepted. Local governments that have forfeited an award or had their grant de-obligated for any reason will not be eligible to apply for three program years.
- All applicants must be registered in the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act system (GATA) and be prequalified on the GATA Portal at https://gata.illinois.gov on the application due date. Applications submitted by communities who are not prequalified will not be considered for review.
- Municipalities must not be a HUD direct Entitlement community or be located in an urban county that receives “entitlement” funds. Communities receiving an annual allocation directly from HUD on an entitlement (formula) basis are not eligible to apply for the State’s CDBG funding. In 2023, Illinois has 33 metropolitan cities and eight urban coutnies names as Entitlements. This includes the Counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, Madison, McHenry, St. Clair and Will; and the Cities or Villages of Arlington Heights, Aurora, Berwyn, Bloomington, Champaign, Chicago, Cicero, Danville, Decatur, DeKalb, DesPlaines, Elgin, Evanston, Hoffman Estates, Joliet, Kankakee, Moline, Mount Prospect, Naperville, Normal, Oak Lawn, Oak Park, Palatine, Pekin, Peoria, Rantoul, Rockford, Rock Island, Schaumburg, Skokie, Springfield, Urbana, Waukegan.
- The Department complies with all applicable provisions of state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to nondiscrimination, sexual harassment and equal employment opportunity including.
For more information, visit IDCEO.
