A community land trust is a nonprofit corporation that develops and stewards affordable housing, community gardens, civic buildings, commercial spaces and other community assets on behalf of a community.  A CLT is a tool that creates a public space where individual citizens can collaborate to influence both the shape and pace of development in their neighborhood. It is a means by which a community can build local community wealth and make home ownership accessible to families otherwise excluded for the private housing market.

Here is how the CLT works to promote home ownership (the Shared Equity Model):

•   A community land trust acquires land and homes from private and public donors with the purpose of keeping them permanently affordable. Individual homebuyers buy the homes on land owned by the CLT (they share the equity). The buyers get mortgage financing to purchase the home, just like a regular homebuyer.
•   The CLT continues to own the land and leases it to the homebuyer for a nominal monthly fee. That lowers the price for the buyer, since the family is only paying for the cost of the house. 
•   The CLT and homebuyer formalize their partnership through the signing a ground lease that lays out both parties’ rights and responsibilities, and a resale formula for the home with a set appreciation rate. 
•   When a homeowner decides to sell, the house is sold back to the CLT for a price based on the resale formula. The price doesn’t include the appreciation of the land, since the CLT owns the land. That’s the key to permanent affordability: it allows the CLT to sell the home to the next buyer at an affordable price, without including any upswings in land value, in perpetuity.
•   At the time of home sale private or public subsidy invested in building the property is returned to the CLT. This preserves the subsidy to the benefit of the next buyer.
•  Public affordable housing programs such as the SHIP program and local affordable housing trust funds can help lower the costs for land acquisition and construction, and provide down payment assistance for home buyers.
•   The CLT provides vital stewardship services to home owners including home management and financial counseling before the purchase, post-purchase guidance and foreclosure prevention services if they need it.