The unanimous vote by the City Council’s Housing and Real Estate Committee means a yearslong fight to prevent longtime residents from being pushed out of South Shore is one step away from victory.

A compromise proposal to allow Chicagoans to build basement, attic and coach house dwellings across the city would still give alderpeople the final say over whether the tiny homes could be built in their wards, officials said.

A final vote on both proposals, which would create 786 new homes, including 237 units of affordable housing, is set for the Sept. 25 City Council meeting.

Illinois homeowners could soon face a higher insurance bill. State Farm is raising its rates by 27% starting Aug. 15 — which could cost customers $475 more on average.

The latest domestic policy plan signed by President Donald Trump on July 4 will increase available funding by 12% for a key tax credit used by developers to offset a portion of construction costs.

A new law will make it easier for police to remove squatters who are illegally staying at a residence. Law enforcement, real estate and property owner organizations supported the bill.

The City Council’s Zoning Committee voted 13-7 to send the proposal to the full City Council for a final vote, where Alds. Marty Quinn (13th Ward) and Greg Mitchell (7th Ward) used a parliamentary procedure to block a vote until the City Council’s next meeting.

The City Council is set to take a final vote Wednesday on Sterling Bay’s $350 million plan to build two towers of more than 15 stories near the Chicago River.

If approved by the City Council on Wednesday, the measure would weaken the decades-old tradition known as aldermanic prerogative that gives a City Council member the final authority over housing developments in their own wards.

It is unclear whether Mayor Brandon Johnson has enough political muscle to convince at least 25 alderpeople to buck the tradition that calls on them to mind their own business and vote along with the alderperson whose ward includes the project.

With the endorsement of the City Council’s License and Consumer Protection Committee, the measure is set for a final vote by the full City Council on June 18.

Amid rising costs and threats to federal housing grants, Chicago is facing a shortfall of nearly 120,000 affordable housing units. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s new Green Social Housing initiative aims to address that shortage by creating a city-owned nonprofit housing developer.

A Senate committee on Wednesday advanced a measure aiming to limit the circumstances under which tenants can be evicted due to local “crime-free housing” ordinances.

An investigation by The New York Times and the Illinois Answers Project shows that many cities in Illinois have turned crime-free housing programs into a blunt instrument to oust families for virtually any alleged infraction, no matter how minor.

Despite Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s trademark optimism, the unrelenting turmoil of the past two years, and his missteps in handling problems both new and old, has weakened his political standing, ensuring that if he runs for and wins a second term in office in 2027, he will have to do it the same way he won the first time: as an underdog.

Chicago faces an affordable housing shortfall of more than 119,000 units, and more than half of Chicagoans spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities, making them burdened by housing costs.