Community Land Trust:

Creating Housing for Community Builders

As a result of a previous blog, HomeStretch: Making a Difference in NW Lower Michigan, we received several requests regarding what a Community Land Trust (CLT) is and how it can be used to further attainable housing goals for our community builders, like teachers, nurses, and young families, among others. By supporting to provide quality housing to the people who educate our children, protect our neighborhoods, and provide critical services, we’re ensuring they can live where they work—helping to create a more connected and stronger community for everyone.

What Is a CLT?

A Community Land Trust (CLT) is a nonprofit organization that acquires and holds land in trust for the long-term benefit of a community. Its primary purpose is to ensure affordable housing, prevent displacement, and provide community stewardship of land.

Here’s how it generally works: The CLT owns the land, but individuals or families can buy the homes or buildings on the land. This arrangement separates land ownership from building ownership, which can help keep housing costs lower.

How Does A CLT Work?

The CLT would take title to the land and place it into a long-term trust.  A family seeking home ownership would contract with the CLT to purchase a home and execute a free ground lease with the CLT for the underlying land. If the home is sold during the term of the lease, the terms of the lease restrict the gain the homeowner can achieve on the sale, thereby ensuring that affordability is maintained for the benefit of the community.

In this way, CLTs support stable, long-term affordable housing and community-centered land use, helping communities prevent displacement, reduce housing insecurity, and build a sense of local ownership and stewardship very similar to Habitat for Humanity.

Two existing  CLTs in our service area are the Frankfort Area Community Land Trust and Peninsula Housing.

SBGC’s Role in the WorkforceHousing Crisis

SBGC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) staffed 100% by volunteers. Our goal is to facilitate additional attainable housing units to grow and maintain a permanent workforce in our community.

Our concept is to provide both rental and homeownership opportunities across a mix of incomes and household types.

Please keep your questions coming as we need your support!

How Can You Help?

There are several things you can do now to help SBGC in our efforts to mitigate the crisis in workforce housing in our gateway communities:

  1. Please subscribe to our e-newsletter. This sign-up link can be found at the bottom of our homepage.
  2. Follow us on social media. We are actively posting updates on Facebook and Instagram.
  3. Please support us with a donation or volunteer with us.