Community Land Trusts in Athens

This week the National Community Land Trust Network is having its annual conference here in Athens, Georgia.  Here's their mission statement from their website:

The National Community Land Trust Network provides training, advocacy and resources for its member organizations which nurture and sustain healthy and economically diverse communities by providing permanently affordable access to land, homes, and related resources.

NCLTN provides technical and other support to community land trusts who are providing affordable housing.  Community land trusts market affordable homes to low to moderate income clients.  The homeowners hold title to the improvements on the land, while the land trust holds title to the land and leases it to the homeowner through a renewable 99 year ground lease.  This allows the land trust to keep the housing permanently affordable. NCLTN is different from the Land Trust Alliance, which provides support to land trusts engaged in land conservation activities around the country.

Some colleagues and I are giving a presentation Thursday on land use issues faced by communities where community land trusts operate.  I'll blog more about that later this week.

Jamie Baker Roskie