Community Land Trust

Granby Four Streets CLT @Assemble Studio

A community land trust is an alternative ownership model that allows place-based communities to self-manage their land. People can manage, take care of, and use the land according to their needs and for long-term sustainability. They keep it in good repair, avoid wasting it, and refrain from leaving buildings empty.

Background

A community land trust (CLT) is a nonprofit organization that owns and manages land for community benefit, focusing on long-term housing affordability and community stewardship. It operates on a principle where land is treated as a common resource, owned by the CLT, and leased to individuals affordably. Homeowners own the buildings on the land. This helps keep prices down, preventing speculative real estate inflation, displacement, and gentrification. Beyond housing, CLTs may also support community spaces, local businesses, renewable energy projects, and (urban)agricultural initiatives (1, 2).

CLTs are a form of mutual housing models, providing an alternative to traditional dualist  models public/private sector, state/market provision. CLTs are community-led, voluntary associations emphasizing locality and membership engagement (3). They embody the concept of the commons, comprising the triad of community, its collective practices of self-governance, and the shared physical resources (2, 4). 

“We didn't start off wanting to be landlords, we started off wanting to change and make it a good place to live. But unfortunately if you want to have any say over what happens, then you need to OWN some of it. And that’s the beauty of a community land trust - because it is land in trust for the community!” - Hazel Tilley - Resident and G4S CLT member source

Practical Implications

In Granby Four Streets, after long-term neglect and disinvestment by the local government, the residents took matters into their own hands. They established a CLT to revitalize the neighborhood. Having conceived funding, the CLT got recognised by the city council as proper urban developer. They transferred the property of 10 houses to the CLT, starting a proper bottom-up regeneration process (Brito 2020, p95). Four corner buildings were also handed to the CLT for use as community-run enterprises. Working with architects from Assemble, they renovated houses in disrepair and sold them at affordable prices to people from the area or those who wished to return (1, 4). The focus areas of Granby Four Streets CLT are: housing, greening, high environmental standards, local businesses, street market, and building jobs and training.

• To start, a CLT needs some kind of subsidy, for example, free land or financial grants.

• CLTs are democratically governed, members determine what the trust will seek to serve - this involves constant negotiations among members.

• If (part of) assets are not needed anymore, they can only be sold or developed in a manner that benefits the local community.

• Who is the community? CLTs have a membership that is open to all who live or work in the defined community. Usually a board comprises a wider range of stakeholders (for example residents, local governments, housing associations etc).

• It is important to notice that CLTs usually have goals such as affordable housing, not primarily shared community living.

• Usually, there is a long-term commitment to maintaining resources in good repair (3).

#community_land_trust #ownership #community_economies #commons

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References

1 Granby Four Streets CLT. What is a Community Land Trust? https://www.granby4streetsclt.co.uk/whats-a-clt 

2 Community Land Trust Network. What is a Community Land Trust? https://www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk/about-clts/what-is-a-community-land-trust-clt/

3 International Center for Community Land Trust. What is a Community Land Trust? https://cltweb.org/what-is-a-community-land-trust/

4 Thompson, M. (2015). Between Boundaries: From Commoning and Guerrilla Gardening to Community Land Trust Development in Liverpool. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12154 

5 Bailey, N. (2012). The role, organisation and contribution of community enterprise to urban regeneration policy in the UK. Progress in Planning, 77(1), 1-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2011.11.001 

6 Brito, O. (2020). Reclaiming the city. Bottom-up tactical spatial practices and the production of (social) space. In M. Dodd (Ed.), Spatial Practices. Modes of Action and Engagement with the City. (pp. 87 ff). Routledge.