CLTs are community-based nonprofit organizations that steward land for long-term affordable housing and community needs, ensuring that land remains outside the pressures of speculative real estate markets. CLTs retain ownership of the land, selling or leasing homes at below-market prices while implementing resale restrictions to ensure affordability for future generations.
Community Land Trusts can be organized in a variety of forms, but share these four principles:
- Accountability to community residents, including but not limited to majority representation on the Board of Directors,
- Retention of public subsidy to benefit future families,
- Creation of permanent affordable housing, and
- Protection of land from real estate speculation.
Today, CLTs continue this legacy by democratizing land ownership, preventing displacement, and supporting self-determination through resident governance. In Los Angeles County, traditional models of homeownership have become increasingly inaccessible as home prices far outpace wages for the vast majority of Angelenos. Even with down payment assistance and below-market mortgage programs, the disconnect between incomes and housing costs makes it nearly impossible for low- and moderate-income families to purchase homes through conventional means. Furthermore, existing below-market-rate homeownership programs often fail to ensure long-term affordability, as affordability restrictions typically expire after a set period, allowing homes to re-enter the speculative market and driving up costs for future buyers.