Support Bill HB 5170
HB 5170 · Paused for 2026 — returning next session
The bill is on pause.
The need for it isn't.
The Senior Home Preservation Program Act was tabled for the rest of this legislative session.
We're using the break to build a bigger coalition — so it hits the ground running the moment Springfield reconvenes.
Bill HB 5170
HB 5170, the Senior home Preservation Program Act, would fund up to $40,000 per home in repair grants.
The Grant would cover repairs for safety, code, and accessibility fixes — for low-income senior homeowners who've lived in their homes for at least 10 years.
Senior Home Preservation Program Act
$22M
Proposed appropriation over three years
3 yrs
Length of the pilot program
$40K
Ceiling on repairs to any one home
550+
Homes reached, at the maximum grant
2 Programs
Home repairs, and paid training for the workers who do them
DHS
Runs it, through local delegate agencies
Subject to appropriations. Starts in predetermined regions, with the expectation of growing statewide. The 550 figure assumes every project reaches the ceiling — most cost less.
Repairs The Bill Covers
$40,000.00 Delivered as grants through trusted local delegate agencies to keep legacy senior homeowners safe, housed, and up to code.
Hover or tab to each category to see what it covers.
Four repair categories covered by the Senior Home Preservation Program.
Who The Bill Helps
Bill HB 5170 helps long-time senior homeowners on fixed incomes, living in houses that need repairs they can no longer cover. The bill helps them age in the place they consider their home.
Here are the three main criteria needed to be eligible to apply for the Senior home Preservation Program Act grants.
Ten years in the home
The applicant has lived in the property for at least a decade. It can be a single-family house or a building of up to four units, so long as it is their own primary residence.
Why it's written this way Ten years is what makes this a legacy program. It rules out recent buyers, investors, and anyone holding the property as a rental.
Headed by someone 62 or older
The age is measured for the head of household. Residents living with a disability reach the threshold seven years earlier, at 55.
Why it's written this way Repairs get harder to manage and more expensive to hire out at exactly the point when income stops growing.
At or below 80% of area median income
Income is measured against the median for the surrounding area rather than one statewide figure, so the cap adjusts to local cost of living.
Why it's written this way The grant is meant for homeowners who have no other way to pay for the work — not a subsidy for those who could finance it.
Fixing homes. Building careers.
Grant dollars don't just repair houses — they train the people doing the repairs.
The program funds cash stipends and pre-apprenticeship training, and connects trainees to committed employer partners, concentrated in the census tracts hit hardest by unemployment and underemployment.