The Community Land Trust (CLT) is a nonprofit organization that functions to create housing that will remain sustainably affordable for people who otherwise would be unable to afford homeownership. This is done through several mechanisms, but the most important of which is the separation of land from real property that sits on top of it. The CLT will lease the land (typically for a duration of 99 years) and sell the property on top of it, thus creating two separate parcels on the same piece of land. The owner of the land, the CLT, and the homeowner are connected to the same area through the land lease signed by the homeowner. Typically, CLTs sell homes to buyers that meet certain income requirements, such as earning 51-80% of the Area’s Median Income (AMI)i.
The first nonprofit credited with being the first American CLT was New Communities Inc. Founded in Albany, Georgia in 1969. Without the help of any CLT-legislation at any level of government, New Communities Inc was the result of civil rights activists organizing to hold land in perpetuity for rural farmers and families. In 1984, the Vermont governmentii delivered a $200,000 seed grant for the Burlington Community Land Trustiii. This was the first time a CLT had ever received direct municipal support in the United States. Later on, in 1992, CLTs received a proper definition as part of an amendment to the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990iv. In the decades since then, we have seen more CLT-specific legislation populate the local and state levels.