Housing prices are out of control in Illinois and renters are feeling the pain. The average cost of rent in Chicago jumped 10 percent over the last three years, feeding an exodus of people out of the Windy City and into more affordable climes.

 

It’s clear why, to borrow a phrase from New York, the rent is too damn high. Greedy property companies, a statewide housing shortage, and “NIMBY” homeowners have combined to create an affordability crisis.

 

At times like this, Springfield needs to take action. But there are smart ways to reform housing and there are feel-good measures that will make little difference to the average Illinoisan.

 

Unfortunately, a bill introduced this month, Senate Bill 343, falls into the second category.

The legislation lays the blame for the housing crisis at the doorstep of AI-powered algorithmic software that is used by some landlords to help understand what the going rate for homes like theirs is. These programs analyze a number of factors in a given real estate market and recommend a rent price based on those inputs.

 

SB 343 would ban the use of this software across Illinois. It is similar to local legislation currently being considered in Evanston. The problem is that both bills would do little to bring down the price of housing.

 

The evidence shows that landlords who check algorithmic software use it as just one factor among many when determining rents. Research from one of these algorithmic companies, RealPage, finds that landlords reject its recommendations more than half the time.

 

It also doesn’t make sense to blame Illinois’ housing woes on data. That’s like faulting Kelley Blue Book for the rising cost of cars.

 

This is especially true when said data can sometimes recommend rent decreases.

 

According to Martin Eichenbaum, a Professor of Economics at Northwestern University, and Jorge Lemus Encalada, an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, “the software often recommends that landlords reduce their prices during times of lower demand,” allowing consumers to benefit from lower prices.

 

A miniscule percentage of rented units nationwide are owned by landlords that use this software. Assuming a similar proportion holds up in Illinois, few would stand to gain from SB 343 even if the unproven price coordination was taking place.

 

The real problem with the Illinois housing market isn’t software; it’s inequality. 

 

There’s a growing rift in our state between those who already rent or own, having often locked in low prices and/or interest rates years ago, and those looking to rent or own now. Too often the haves are blocking needed reform — in particular, the construction of new affordable housing units — at the expense of the have-nots.

 

This kind of sentiment is often called NIMBY, or “Not in My Backyard,” and it’s no stranger here in Illinois, especially in Chicago’s wealthy suburbs. But as the rent crisis makes building new housing a matter of basic justice, NIMBY has gained a voice it didn’t have before.

 

Recently, Governor Pritzker backed legislation that would shift some control away from municipalities and allow multifamily homes to be built more easily. The backlash was so strong that the Wall Street Journal, the most circulated newspaper in the country, ran an article about it.

 

This isn’t to say NIMBY doesn’t have any valid objections. The last thing we want is to turn our lovely state into one big sprawling development. 

 

But something has to give. The cost of a home in Illinois has skyrocketed nearly 50 percent since 2019. The homeless population across the state more than doubled just between 2023 and 2024 while in Chicago it more than tripled.

 

This is a crisis, one that risks turning more of the poor onto the street, more of the middle class into the poor, and more Illinoisans into residents of other states. 

 

Needed development is too often blocked through onerous zoning regulations, a refusal to issue building permits, and other methods. The only way forward is for Springfield to take meaningful action rather than deferring to local NIMBYs who keep blocking change.

 

That means no more pretending everything is AI algorithms’ fault. It means passing real reform that makes sure our people always have an affordable place to live.

 

Cyril Nichols served as a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 2021 to 2025.