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For Tenants What is a CLT?
For Tenants What is a CLT?
What is a CLT?
WHAT IS A COMMUNITY LAND TRUST?
Community Land Trusts are locally based non-profit organizations that create permanently affordable housing through community ownership of the land. CLT's separate the ownership of residential buildings from ownership of the land under those buildings. Residents control their buildings by owning them. Residents can own a house, an apartment, or a share in a housing cooperative. In a limited equity housing cooperative, each household has one share and thus one vote in the affairs of the coop. The CLT retains ownership of the land under the buildings.
By separating the ownership of the land from the buildings, the CLT can reduce the cost of owning a building or house. The CLT creates long terms ground leases for the buildings on their land, usually 99 years, and includes re-sale restrictions in these ground leases. In this way, the buildings can remain affordable not just for the first owner, but for all owners in the future. So in exchange for inexpensive homes, residents agree to sell their homes back to the CLT, or another low to moderate income household, at a restricted price. This restriction on price benefits the larger community of low to moderate income people by restraining inflation in the price of that housing. Through community control of the CLT, the CLT can work to focus on the housing needs of the community, not of for-profit developers.
Get involved: Join the San Francisco Community Land Trust and be part of the exciting movement to preserve affordable housing in San Francisco. Click here to join.
