What is a Community Land Trust (CLT)?
According to the Institute for Community Economics (ICE), 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: • Gain control over local land use and reduce absentee ownership • Provide affordable housing for lower income residents in the community • Promote resident ownership and control of housing • Keep housing affordable for future residents • Capture the value of public investment for long-term community benefit • Build a strong base for community action” The land trust model of home ownership is a powerful tool for making housing affordable in the face of the increasingly widening gap between income and housing costs. A community land trust purchases and holds land for the benefit of the com
