Community Land Trust Resource Center: CLT 101 Archives

Video: Asset Building and Affordable Homeownership

Homeownership has historically offered the best asset building strategy available to middle class american families. But homeownership has changed and is no longer available to many moderate income households. Local government programs that seek to make ownership affordable however frequently choose to limit the price that homeowners can sell for in order to preserve affordability for future buyers. But affordability protections are sometimes opposed by those who want to encourage homeowner wealth building. These debates are really about the very purpose of affordable homeownership programs. This 15 minute video presentation looks more closely at local affordable homeownership programs from the point of view of asset building. Can affordable ownership programs be seen as asset building strategies? How do they compare with traditional ownership?[More]

Posted by Rick Jacobus | Comments (0)

The City-CLT Partnership

1395_CLT PFR Cover LoRes.jpg Based on a review of three dozen municipal programs and in-depth interviews with local officials and CLT practitioners, this report describes the mechanisms and methods that cities across the country are using to structure their investment in CLT startups, projects, and operations. In addition to describing the full range of options for providing municipal support, the report highlights specific model practices for rendering that assistance.[More]

Posted by Rick Jacobus | Comments (0)

Video: A New Way Home: Sharing Equity to Build Wealth

This video produced by NCB Capital Impact and NeighborWorks America highlights local shared equity homeownership programs across the country that are providing wealth building homeownership opportunities while preserving affordability for future generations. [More]

Posted by Rick Jacobus | Comments (0)

Starting a CLT: Organizational and Operational Choices

The community land trust is a model of great versatility, leading to wide variation in the ways in which the CLT is structured and applied. Starting a Community Land Trust: Organizational and Operational Choices is an introductory manual prepared by John Emmeus Davis. It describes those decisions that matter the most in the early days of planning a CLT – choices that every sponsor of a new CLT must make. It presents the range of options for making each decision and reviews the pros and cons that should be weighed in selecting one course of action over another. These are choices of purpose, program, and scope that precede more technical deliberations over bylaws, ground lease, resale formula, and the like – topics covered elsewhere in publications like the CLT Legal Manual and the many materials posted by Burlington Associates on its CLT Resource Center. [More]

Posted by Burlington Associates | Comments (0)

Roots of the CLT Movement

Roots of the Community Land Trust Movement, an unpublished essay discussing some of the cultural and religious traditions underlying the modern-day CLT movement in the United States. This essay was written in 2001 by Vicki Lindsay, founding director of the...[More]

Posted by Burlington Associates | Comments (0)

Community Land Trusts for Affordable Homeownership

By Rick Jacobus and Amy Cohen in California Affordable Housing Deskbook, Solano Press, forthcoming. This chapter from a book on housing polity for local elected officials and housing program administrators explains how Community Land Trusts operate and places them within...[More]

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CLT Overview

Here is a handout that can be used to describe briefly the community land trust - what it is, how it works and why it makes sense as a community development strategy and an affordable housing tool. Click here to...[More]

Posted by Mike Brown | Comments (0)

Homes & Hands: Community Land Trusts in Action

An excellent 36-minute video, Homes & Hands: Community Land Trusts in Action was produced by Women's Educational Media, under a contract with the Institute for Community Economics. Three community land trusts - Durham Community Land Trustees in Durham NC, Sawmill...[More]

Posted by Mike Brown | Comments (0)

CLTs and Land Banks

There are similarities between Community Land Trusts and Municipal Land Banks, but there are also significant differences. Offered here in a one-page chart is a side-by-side comparison of CLTs and Land Banks. Click here to download this comparison between CLTs...[More]

Posted by Mike Brown | Comments (0)

CLT Overview Presentation

An animated presentation, designed by Mike Brown, introducing Community Land Trusts. It briefly explains how CLTs work and why they are increasingly being utilized in communities across the country. This presentation requires the free QuickTime Player which can be downloaded...[More]

Posted by Mike Brown | Comments (0)

Questions Frequently Asked About Community Land Trusts

As the community land trust is still relatively unfamiliar in many places, it is important to be able to effectively and convincingly respond to questions and concerns that arise. We have assembled a list of the most commonly asked questions,...[More]

Posted by Mike Brown | Comments (0)

Reasons for Organizing a Community Land Trust

There are many reasons why community land trusts make so much sense for our neighborhoods and communities. Here's a list of reasons for creating and supporting CLTs.[More]

Posted by Mike Brown | Comments (0)

Variations on the "Classic" Community Land Trust Model

Organizers of a CLT often amend key features of the "classic" model to fit their own circumstances, preferences, and needs. The most common variations tend to occur in the CLT's Corporate Structure, Governance Structure, Roles, and Activities.[More]

Posted by Mike Brown | Comments (0)

Key Features of the "Classic" Community Land Trust

The community land trust (CLT) is an equitable and sustainable model of affordable housing and community development that has slowly spread throughout the United States during the past 30 years. Since 1992, the defining features of this model have...[More]

Posted by Mike Brown | Comments (0)

Comparison: CLT vs. Market

Community land trusts attempt to provide their homeowners with a fair return at the time of resale without sacrificing affordability to the new buyer - ideally without requiring additional subsidy. Burlington Associates have developed a number of spreadsheet analysis tools,...[More]

Posted by Mike Brown | Comments (0)

Understanding Subsidy Retention: A Flash Animation

This flash animation, designed by Rick Jacobus, dramatically demonstrates the merits of "subsidy retention" as a preferred policy for investing public dollars in affordable housing. The argument illustrated in this presentation is that Community Land Trusts, like other models of shared equity homeownership, are effective in locking public subsidies into each home that is sold, ensuring a stock of permanently affordable housing. This is an improvement over the housing investment policies of most cities and states that either allow homeowners to pocket public subsidies when reselling their assisted homes or require the recapture of public subsides so they may be re-loaned to other low-income households in the future. [More]

Posted by Mike Brown | Comments (0)

Why Community Land Trusts?

A convincing list of reasons why a community land trust make sense.[More]

Posted by Mike Brown | Comments (0)

CLT Overview for Lenders

Without the ability to secure mortgage financing for their buyers, Community Land Trusts would have limited effectiveness. This handout was developed specifically for use in providing an initial explanation of the CLT model for lenders - specifically addressing mortgagee concerns....[More]

Posted by Rick Jacobus | Comments (0)