Community land trust

A nonprofit holds land permanently on behalf of a community and leases it to homeowners or businesses, who own the buildings but sell under a resale formula that keeps them affordable.

The model separates the value of land, treated as a community asset, from improvements made by occupants. Governance typically gives seats to leaseholders, neighbours and public representatives.

• New Communities Inc. in Georgia (1969) is usually cited as the first CLT.
• Champlain Housing Trust in Burlington, Vermont, began in 1984.
• The model has spread to the United Kingdom and other countries.

Resale formulas limit the wealth homeowners can build, and CLTs depend on grants or public land to acquire sites. Scaling beyond a niche has proved difficult.

CLTs have kept homes affordable over decades in documented cases. They remain small relative to housing markets.