Home Ownership Made Easy Community Land Trust
A Community Land Trust (CLT) is based on the idea that land is to be shared with the community. A CLT combats the shortage of affordable housing in an overpriced market while keeping the land permanently affordable for future generations. The idea behind putting land into a trust is to take it out of the expensive profit making market. In doing so, one preserves the current and future value of the land at a low price available for community members who meet certain income requirements by removing the cost of land from the cost of housing in the final purchase price.
HOME purchases the land and leases the land to a qualifying* homeowner for a low price. The homeowner is then able to afford to buy the CLT housing unit at an ideal price because they are not paying for the cost of land. In addition, at each resale, the home is guaranteed to be sold to another qualifying homeowner, always benefiting those who need it most. At the right is an illustration depicting this situation.
A CLT also protects future homebuyers from fluctuations in the market that abruptly send land prices skyrocketing. An affordable unit created under a CLT not only ensures that the unit remains affordable for subsequent generations of CLT owners or renters, but most often it makes it even more affordable for them while retaining public subsidies over the long term. It can be used to promote smart growth opportunities for community members by making it affordable for residents to live where they work, removing the need to live on the urban fringe, thereby reducing traffic. With a generous seed grant from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Home Ownership Made Easy is creating a community land trust in order to preserve long term affordable housing for developmentally disabled low income families. Both Homeownership and rental units will be placed in the CLT on scattered sites across the State of California to provide hundreds of families with the opportunity to finally live in communities where they were previously priced out of. Units will be targeted in transit oriented developments, and adjacent to parks and services to provide our residents with the stability to improve their quality of life affordably and independently. HOME CLT is looking to develop its first community land trust unit by Fall, 2008.
For more information please contact CLT project manager Helen Campbell at helenc@westsiderc.org.
See the printable flyer about CLTs
* Qualifying Home owners must be developmentally disabled or live with a family member who is developmentally disabled, and meet certain income requirements.