Community land trusts: Redefining real property ownership in America

Despite the current decline in the real estate market, housing affordability continues to be a hot issue in many communities where housing prices have exceeded wage increases. Charlottesville, Virginia and its surrounding areas are no exception to these trends. As Free Enterprise Forum noted in its 2006 Report, “Locked Out,” the average home price in Charlottesville and surrounding counties increased 133% between 1995 and 2005.1 In order to address these issues, a few communities are exploring community land trusts (CLTs). Albemarle County and Charlottesville have recently joined the ranks of communities considering the community land trust model of affordable housing. In May of 2008, the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission adopted a resolution supporting “the formation of the Thomas Jefferson Community Land Trust as a mechanism for perpetual affordability of housing on land owned and controlled by the land trust.”2 Community land trusts are a unique form of property ownership that challenge traditional concepts of property ownership in the United States. The concept is still unfamiliar to many citizens. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the community land trust model and its use in the United States. Section I of this paper will provide a basic definition and history of the community land trust model. Section II will briefly explore where community land trusts are in operation today. Section III analyzes many of the elements that comprise the traditional community land trust. And finally, Section IV summarizes many of the policy arguments advocates on both sides of the CLT issue are utilizing.