Community Control +
Community Governance
How can community members own
or control housing on a CLT?
In addition to protecting people’s homes, creating permanent affordability, and taking properties off the speculative market, one of the key values of a Community Land Trust is to put control and, in some cases ownership, into the hands of the community — particularly low to moderate income residents and people of color who are most at risk of displacement. How do we do this?
We work with our partners to organize and engage neighborhood residents to collect knowledge and build power to negotiate transfer of property into a CLT.
We engage our residents in decision making: residents and community members are invited to hold representative positions on the BNCLT Board of Directors in order to influence key organizational decisions.
We invite residents to participate in activities hosted by the Stewardship Committee, such as workshops and training sessions to learn about CLT’s and to develop leadership skills. The Stewardship Committee is made up of BNCLT board members who play the role of connecting residents with the Land Trust and the Property Management Company to address important property issues, build relationships, and offer needed support.
We are exploring models for tenants to eventually become owners of the property in the future—such as through shared management strategies; limited equity co-ops; or rent-to-own models.
