Acquiring Land for the Community
        Sometimes CLTs buy undeveloped land and arrange to have new homes built on it; sometimes they buy land and buildings together. In either case, the CLT treats land and buildings differently. CLT land is held permanently – never sold – so that it can always be used in the community’s best interest. Buildings on CLT land, however, may be owned by the residents.

Access for Low-Income People
        The CLT provides access to land and housing for people who are otherwise priced out of the housing market. Some CLT homes are rented, but, when possible, the CLT helps people to purchase homes on affordable terms. The land beneath the homes is then leased to the homeowners through a long-term (usually 99 year) renewable lease. Residents and their descendants can use the land for as long as they wish to live there.

Prices Stay Affordable
        When CLT homeowners decide to move, they can sell their homes. The land lease agreement gives the CLT the right to buy each home back for an amount determined by the CLT’s resale formula. Each CLT membership sets its own resale formula – to give homeowners a fair return for their investment, while keeping the price affordable for other lower income people.

Owner-occupancy preserved
        The land lease requires that owners live in their homes as their primary residences. When homes are resold, the CLT can assure that the new owners will also be residents – not absentee owners.

Multi-Family Buildings
        A CLT can work with various ownership structures for multi-family buildings. The CLT itself may own and manage a building, another non-profit may own it, or the residents may own it as a cooperative or as condominiums. In each case, the CLT will have provisions to assure long-term affordability. CLTs sometimes assist residents in purchasing their building and work with them to oversee its management.

Helping New Homeowners
        A CLT can give crucial support to its homeowners when they face unexpected home repairs or financial problems. In these cases the CLT can often help residents to find a practical solution, and may help to make necessary financial arrangements.

A Flexible Approach
        CLTs have been established to serve inner-city neighborhoods, small cities, clusters of towns, and rural areas. A CLT working in a small city neighborhood may be the only local housing group, though it may collaborate with city-wide and regional organizations. Other CLTs, serving larger geographical areas, may work closely with a variety of local organizations.
        CLTs may develop housing by themselves or with the assistance of other nonprofit (and sometimes for-profit) housing developers. A CLT may also acquire existing housing that needs little or no renovation. Some CLTs have bought mobile home parks to provide long-term security for mobile home owners.
        In addition to affordable housing, CLTs may make land available for community gardens, playgrounds, or open space, and may provide land and facilities for a variety of community services. In rural areas, CLTs may hold land for gardens, farming, timber and firewood, or conservation.

Who Controls the CLT?
        A CLT is a nonprofit organization that is democratically controlled by its members. All CLT residents are members, and other people in the community may also join.
        The members elect the CLT’s Board of Directors. Usually there are three kinds of directors on the Board – those representing resident members, those representing members who not CLT residents, and those representing the broader public interest. In this way, control of organization is balanced to protect both the residents and the community as a whole.