Community Land Trusts

Community land trusts can provide access to land and housing for moderate and low-income households and as a result promote neighborhood preservation and improvement. By separating ownership of land from ownership of the buildings on it, community land trusts offer an alternative approach to property ownership. Land trusts acquire and own the land, holding it perpetually for the community's benefit, while individuals or cooperatives own improvements to the land, such as houses. Resident households lease the land from the land trust at terms that allow for their long-term security and enable them to sell their homes at a fair price.