Community land trusts: A Solution for Permanently Affordable Housing

The community land trust (CLt) is one mechanism that addresses this need for affordable housing, and it also can be considered an institutional mechanism for capturing socially produced land value. The CLt is typically a private, nonprofit corporation that acquires land parcels in a targeted geographic area with the intention of retaining ownership of the land for the long term. The CLt then provides for the private use of the land through long-term ground lease agreements. The leaseholders may own their homes or other improvements on the leased land, but resale restrictions apply. In theory, the CLt removes the cost of land from the housing price by separating ownership of the land from that of the house or other improvement