What Is a 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 (CLT) is a democratically-run organization, governed by a board of directors that is elected by its members. Members are residents of the CLT’s service area who support the CLT’s mission.
CLTs can be used for many types of community-led development–from agriculture projects to commercial spaces–but CLTs 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 CLT home, they purchase only the house and enter into a long-term agreement — usually a 99-year ground lease — with the CLT to lease the land. By taking the cost of the land out of the real estate transaction, CLTs 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 CLT house chooses to sell, they work with the CLT to ensure the home is sold at an affordable price to the next qualifying homebuyer. By the CLT holding the land "in trust," the home stays affordable for future generations.
Organizational structure
A CLT is a democratically-managed organization comprised of members, who elect a Board of Directors.
Members are residents of the CLT’s service area who support the CLT’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 CLT residents. Many CLTs opt for a tripartite (three-part) board structure to ensure a balance of interests from the community the CLT serves.
CLAM’s Board of Directors follows a tripartite (three-part) structure:
One-third of the board members are residents of the CLT 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 CLT
Community land trusts are about people. That means YOU! Your participation and support—financial and otherwise—are key to CLAM’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 movement has emerged from a long and fascinating American conversation about the intersection between land ownership and social equity.
To learn more about the visionaries and innovators who laid the groundwork for today’s CLT’s, visit Roots and Branches: A Gardener’s Guide to the Evolution of the Community Land Trust.
CLAM is a member of the Bay Area Consortium of Community Land Trusts, working to address affordability challenges along with these other organizations:
Oakland Community Land Trust
Northern California Land Trust
San Francisco Community Land Trust
Bay Area Community Land Trust
Housing Land Trust of Sonoma
We are also a member of the West Marin Housing Collaborative, a joint effort of Bolinas Community Land Trust, Stinson Beach Affordable Housing Committee, San Geronimo Valley Affordable Housing Association, and CLAM.
There are also community land trusts located in other rural, natural areas that have similar challenges to West Marin:
Island Housing Trust (Mount Desert, Maine)
Jackson Hole Housing Trust (Jackson, Wyoming)
Lopez Community Land Trust (Lopez Island, Washington)
Madison Area Community Land Trust (Troy Gardens, Wisconsin)
Opal Community Land Trust (Orcas Island, Washington)
At the forefront of community land trusts in the U.S. is Champlain Housing Trust. Located in Burlington Vermont, this is one of the earliest and now most extensive community land trusts, creating homes in both rural and urban areas.