Real Estate Term:Community land trusts

Land trust communities trace their conceptual history to India's gramdans where villages held property in the community interest, and to European and North American land banks, which are quasi-public agencies that invest in land often to help build family farms or to encourage economic development. Residential land trusts emerged in the United States after calls among civil rights leaders in the 1950s and 1960s in the American South for economic reforms to reverse rampant poverty. An Institute for Community Economics was organized in the 1960s to help residential trusts:

Gain control over local land use and reduce absentee ownership

Provide affordable housing for lower income residents in the community

Promote resident ownership and control of housing

Keep housing affordable for future residents

Capture the value of public investment for long-term community benefit

Build a strong base for community action

Residential community land trusts are now widespread in the United States, but seldom gain much notice beyond occasional local news accounts. The Institute for Community Economics in 2004 reported nearly 120 community land trusts of varied sizes in 30 states, the District of Columbia and in five Canadian provinces. While a few earlier trusts faltered, the number of land trusts in North America overall nearly tripled between the 1987 and 2004.

Community trusts don't typically advertise their goals, but rely on community members and word of mouth to attract new residents. In residential land trusts, the community association usually owns land, while their occupants’ own buildings. Trusts usually retain rights to buy buildings from residents who move out of the community. The goal of residential trusts is often to protect housing prices from real estate speculation and gentrification but to allow residents to accrue equity, including sweat equity.

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