A community land trust is a private non-profit corporation created to acquire and hold land for the benefit of a community and provide secure affordable access to land and housing for community residents. In particular, CLTs attempt to meet the needs of residents least served by the prevailing market. Community land trusts help communities to:

A community land trust (CLT) is a democratically controlled nonprofit organization that owns real estate in order to provide benefits to its local community - and in particular to make land and housing available to residents who cannot otherwise afford them.

Important Features of a CLT

Sometimes CLTs buy undeveloped land and arrange to have new homes built on it; sometimes they buy land and buildings together. In either case, the CLT treats land and buildings differently. CLT land is held permanently - never sold - so that it can always be used in the community's best interest. Buildings on CLT land, however, may be owned by the residents.

The CLT provides access to land and housing for people who are otherwise priced out of the housing market. Some CLT homes are rented, but, when possible, the CLT helps people to purchase homes on affordable terms. The land beneath the homes is then leased to the homeowners through a long-term (usually 99-year) renewable lease. Residents and their descendants can use the land for as long as they wish to live there.

When CLT homeowners decide to move, they can sell their homes. The land lease agreement gives the CLT the right to buy each home back for an amount determined limited by the CLT's resale formula. Each CLT designs its own resale formula - to give homeowners a fair return for their investment, while keeping the price affordable for other lower income people.

The land lease requires that owners live in their homes as their primary residences. When homes are resold, the lease ensures that the new owners will also be residents - not absentee owners.

A CLT can work with various ownership structures for multi-family buildings. The CLT itself may own and manage a building as rental housing, another non-profit may own it, or the residents may own it as a cooperative or as condominiums. In each case, the CLT will ensure long-term affordability.