Community Land Trusts

Affordable Forever

Community Home Trust operates on the "Land Trust" model. A community land trust (CLT) is a private, nonprofit corporation created to provide secure, affordable access to land and housing for community members. In particular, CLTs attempt to meet the needs of those 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 community residents
  • 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

Community land trusts are distinguished in one significant way from other nonprofit housing and organizations. CLT's retain title to property and convey ownership using a 99-yr lease. This allows CLT homes to remain affordable to successive generations.

In 2006 the average sale price of a new home in Carrboro and Chapel Hill was $510,000. People below 80% of the median income cannot keep up with the rapid rise in housing costs. Community Home Trust provides quality housing for working families-and keeps those homes from ever escalating to prices beyond the reach of low and moderate-income wage-earners. Community Home Trust homebuyers typically earn between $30,000 and $50,000 a year, depending on household size and include teachers, social workers, housekeepers, police officers, postal workers, nurses, and UNC or local government employees.

 

Facts about the Community Land Trust Model

  • There are nearly 190 CLTs in operation nationwide. They are mostly concentrated in the Northeast (37%) and the West (29%). The remaining 19 and 15 percent are located in the Midwest and the South respectively.

  • CLTs have developed over 6,400 units of permanently affordable housing in the United States. Half of these units are developed for homeownership.

    The majority (70%) of CLTs do not focus on a single neighborhood but serve multiple neighborhoods, the city as a whole, the county, or even multiple counties and serve low and moderate income residents in the larger geographic region.

  • Community Land Trusts are community-based, nonprofit organizations, governed by broadly diverse boards of directors that represent homeowners as well as the communities they serve.

    The duration of CLT’s ground lease range from 20 to 99 years, with 99 years being the most frequently used (95%) term. Ground leases are renewable.

    Most CLTs (90 percent) pay property taxes on their CLT land. Forty-five percent of CLTs reported that property taxes on the land are paid by the homeowners.