What is a Community Land Trust (CLT?) See policies to support our work

Community land trusts are non-profit organizations that own land and lease it out for mission-aligned uses. Uses include parks, open space, affordable home ownership, rental housing, farm sites, affordable commercial space and community gardens.

CLTs don't sell our land- we remove it from the speculative market with a mandate to hold it permanently and protect it for community use. We know that the land is where we live, work and play, and that how we use the land is what matters the most for communities. We uphold people over profit, and the "use value" of land over its "exchange value."

CLTs remove land from the private market, thus protecting it from the whims of “the free market”. The value of the land, instead, is inherent, it’s not based on whether outside investors think it’s valuable or invaluable. People living, working on, or farming the land will not be displaced because of external ideas about the value of the land. Furthermore, CLTs are governed by groups of people who make decisions about how the land is used for community benefit.

The model for CLTs in this country is New Communities. Founded in Albany, GA during the Civil Rights Movement, New Communities was a collective of Black farmers practicing community ownership and collective governance. Our work follows in that tradition: we uphold community wealth and governance over personal gain.