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Land
Trusts
Community
land trusts are nonprofit organizations established to acquire
and retain land for the community's overall benefit. CLTs
offer an alternative to the current system of individual home
ownership by ensuring all classes of people have access to
land and that land will be used for the benefit of communities
as a whole, rather than for the benefit of individual owners
or speculators.
Community
land trusts are experiencing significant growth. At the end
of the 1980s, there were 40 CLTs nationwide. Today, more than
90 CLTs are operating, with some 30 more being developed in
33 states and the District of Columbia. CLT development is
occurring in all types of communities: towns and small cities
(38%), rural areas (26%), urban neighborhoods (23%), and metropolitan
areas (13%).
Five characteristics
define community land trusts: (1) a commitment to provide
greater local control over land and housing ownership; (2)
dual-ownership arrangements through which the land trust owns
the land and individual leaseholders own their homes and other
improvements; (3) protection of housing's long-term affordability;
(4) ongoing land acquisition and development to meet diverse
community needs; and (5) a range of programs to preserve such
critical local resources as affordable housing, family farms,
neighborhood businesses and social services while protecting
the long-term interests of the community. By distinguishing
between land ownership and building ownership (i.e., by allowing
residents to own buildings and their improvements but not
the land beneath), the CLT model offers a mechanism which
balances the interests of individuals and families with the
interests of the larger community.
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