Affordable Housing

More than 320 families in Michigan will get up to $25,000 each through a new pilot program to help first-generation homebuyers afford a down payment.

Landlords would be barred from discriminating against tenants or prospective tenants who use housing vouchers or other types of public assistance to pay the rent under bills adopted by the Legislature.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer wants to use hundreds of millions of dollars to build low-income housing and to equip new homes with solar panels and energy-efficient appliances.

It could become illegal in Michigan to deny renting to someone because of their source of income, under a bill package heading for the state House of Representatives.

The Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance put on the conference, which also featured panels with regional state representatives and candidates running for U.S. Senate.

The Home Heating Credit is to help low-income families pay some of their heating expenses.

In a number of Michigan cities including Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Grand Rapids, more than one in four renters are spending at least half their income on rent.

The state is investing in three affordable housing projects. Two of them are in west Michigan.

The six-month freeze is the latest in a series of actions by local governments across the northwest region grappling with an affordable housing crisis.

The funds will go toward providing the non-profit Housing North with administrative staff to help local governments navigate zoning reforms, among other solutions, to create more affordable housing in the region.