Policy Focus Report
Preserving Affordable Homeownership
Municipal Partnerships with Community Land Trusts
November 2024, English
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“This is a groundbreaking and insightful report.”
This long-awaited follow-up to The City-CLT Partnership provides new and updated information about current policy collaborations among community land trusts, cities, counties, and states working to address the housing affordability crisis. Combining their own expertise with input provided by more than 115 CLT practitioners and other experts across the country, the authors identify significant trends in the community land trust landscape, share examples of innovative and effective partnerships, and offer evidence-based recommendations for policy makers and practitioners who want to make homeownership more affordable and accessible.
John Emmeus Davis is a city planner who has spent much of his 40-year career providing technical assistance to CLTs and documenting their history and performance. He coauthored the Lincoln Institute’s 2008 publication, The City-CLT Partnership. He previously served as the city’s housing director in Burlington, Vermont, and dean of the National CLT Academy. He is a partner at Burlington Associates in Community Development LLC, a national consulting cooperative. He is a founding board member of the International Center for CLTs and editor-in-chief of the Center’s imprint, Terra Nostra Press.
Kristin King-Ries is an attorney whose practice is focused on creating and stewarding permanently affordable homes and farms for people priced out of the traditional real estate market. She represents CLTs and other nonprofits and serves as a consultant to the Agrarian Trust and the Center for Agricultural and Food Systems at the Vermont Law and Graduate School. She is presently playing the lead role in organizing a CLT legal collaborative on behalf of the International Center for CLTs. She previously served as general counsel for Trust Montana from 2017 to 2021.
Reviews
“This is a groundbreaking and insightful report. It will make a tremendous difference to practitioners, cities, and policymakers as CLTs are experiencing historic growth and expansion in an increasingly unaffordable housing market. This report powerfully demonstrates the range of tools local governments have to enable and sustain CLTs. The local government role is critical since communities can and do face formidable challenges in establishing CLTs in both high-cost land markets and historically disinvested neighborhoods. The report importantly captures other expanding dimensions of CLTs, including partnerships with local land banks, the incorporation of commercial uses, and their role in climate resilience for vulnerable communities.”
–Sheila R. Foster, Professor of Climate and Law, Columbia University; Cofounder and Director, LabGov
“As Boston confronts rising housing costs and displacement pressures, community land trusts represent a transformative approach to affordability. This report offers a timely and compelling framework for addressing our housing challenges by highlighting creative insights with the proven successes of CLTs to leverage, expand, and preserve affordable housing. It will be a helpful resource as we continue our commitment to supporting and financing CLTs, enabling them to compete in the market, and protecting our most vulnerable communities from displacement.”
–Ruthzee Louijeune, President, Boston City Council
“More than a mere update, this new report is an informative and well-organized guide for communities looking to bring state and local governments into their efforts to foster permanently affordable homeownership.”
–James J. Kelly, Jr., Clinical Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame
“The arrival of Preserving Affordable Homeownership: Municipal Partnerships with Community Land Trusts couldn’t be timelier. This updated report not only contains an urgent call for effective collaboration, it provides a road map to collaboration by showcasing useful tactics and best practices for municipal and CLT staff to put to use right away.”
–Erika Malone, Homeownership Division Manager, City of Seattle Office of Housing
“Municipalities across the country are struggling to address today’s housing affordability and quality crisis. This report is a thoughtful, practical guide for local leaders considering community land trusts as a model to advance both long-term housing affordability and long-term housing quality. Experienced CLT practitioners and newcomers to the field will benefit from its exhaustive survey of the field and its grounded, concrete proposals for better partnerships between local governments and community land trusts.”
–Anika Singh Lemar, Clinical Professor of Law, Yale Law School; Editor in Chief, Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law