What Is a Community Land Trust (CLT)?

Real estate in the U.S. is structured to encourage wealth accumulation, with less focus on actually housing people. CLAM is working to change this by putting people and community first.

As a community land trust, CLAM takes land and housing out of the speculative real estate market and holds it “in trust” to serve as a long-term community asset for housing people.

A community land trust is a democratically-run organization, governed by a board of directors that is elected by its members. Members are residents and friends of the community land trust’s service area who support the community land trust’s mission.

Community land trusts can be used for many types of community-led development, from agriculture projects to commercial spaces, but community land trusts primarily focus on housing.

How It Works

When a community land trust acquires a home, it has the option to either rent the housing or sell the housing while continuing to own the ground. When a family buys a community land trust home, they purchase only the house and enter into a long-term agreement — usually a 99-year ground lease — with the community land trust to lease the land. By taking the cost of the land out of the real estate transaction, community land trusts greatly decrease the cost of homeownership, which is often otherwise prohibitive for lower-income people seeking to buy a home.

When the family that has bought a community land trust house chooses to sell, they work with the community land trust to ensure the home is sold at an affordable price to the next qualifying homebuyer. By the community land trust holding the land "in trust," the home stays affordable for future generations.

Organizational Structure

A community land trust is a democratically-managed organization comprised of members, who elect a Board of Directors.

Members are residents of the community land trust’s service area who support the community land trust’s mission. Members elect the board of directors, vote on by-law changes, serve as board and/or committee members, and review the Annual Reports. Equally as important, members sustain the long term goals of the organization through volunteering and contributions. Become a member of CLAM today!

The member-elected board of directors is made up of community members and community land trust residents. Many community land trusts opt for a tripartite (three-part) board structure to ensure a balance of interests from the community the community land trust serves.

CLAM’s Board of Directors follows a tripartite (three-part) structure:

• One-third of the board members are residents of the community land trust properties

• One-third are residents from the local community

• One-third are local stakeholders or experts, generally consisting of public officials, community leaders, nonprofit workers, and other individuals presumed to speak for the public interest and having specific skills to benefit the community land trust

Community land trusts are about people. That means YOU! Your participation and support—financial and otherwise—are key to community land trust’s success. Check out the Support Us tab at the top of the page for other ways you can contribute to CLAM.

Learn more

The community land trust (CLT) movement has grown from a single CLT in 1970 to nearly six hundred today, scattered across a dozen countries.

To learn more about the visionaries and innovators who laid the groundwork for today’s community land trust’s, visit the International Center for Community Land Trusts.

CLAM is a member of the The California Community Land Trust Network, working to address affordability challenges. We are also a member of the West Marin Housing Collaborative, a joint effort of Bolinas Community Land Trust, Stinson Beach Affordable Housing Committee and Two Valleys Community Land Trust.