Pilot Program Aimed at Boosting Employee Home Ownership

The state of Illinois has set aside $2 million in tax credits for employers who help employees buy homes.

For every dollar that employers offer to employees in the form of down payments and closing costs, the employer gets 50 cents, according to the Chicago Tribune. “That’s a bottom-line investment, one that people understand,” says Kelly King Dibble, executive director of the Illinois Housing Development Authority. “It’s a way for companies to retain employees.”

Mark Lusson, vice president of human resources at Northwest Community Hospital, says his company’s housing benefits help because “we would like our employees to live closer.” The hospital requires participants to live within 10 miles of the hospital. Allstate also offers housing benefits. Kelly Edmond, a human resources professional for Allstate, says “if an employee has a shorter commute and is in a home they own, that’s a happier employee.”