Land Trusts Offer an Innovative Way to Help the Middle Class Afford a Home

credit: brandchannel

" homeownership is increasingly out of reach for many Americans."

That's the takeaway from a report from the Center for Community Land Trust Innovation, which notes that the number of nonprofit community land trusts has grown from 162 in 2006 to 302 today.

Land trusts, which are funded by foundations, government funds, financial institutions, and individual donations, often help people buy homes at below-market prices.

In exchange, homebuyers agree to restrictions that limit the home's price in the future.

The Atlanta Land Trust, for example, sold a three-bedroom home for $102,000 three years ago, and Makeisha Robey, a preschool teacher who had moved her family from rental to rental due to rising costs, says she "can see myself staying in this home for the duration of my lifetime."

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy found that $125.1 million in private funds were given to land trusts and similar programs from 2001 to 2006, and the amount grew by 80% over the next five years, in part because government funding decreased.

But getting land and developing it is expensive, making it difficult for land trusts to expand.

Data has shown that land trusts are able to keep low-cost homes from getting lost to commercial development and ensure a neighborhood's residents can afford to stay put

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