Residents and advocates for affordable housing and community development socialized over Flatbreads pizza at JFK Elementary on June 12 before settling in to learn about community land trusts.

Somerville Community Land Trust (CLT) volunteers were hosting a CLT kickoff event to share information about the newly incorporated Somerville CLT and how residents could get involved.

So, what is a CLT?

A CLT, most simply, is a “neutral and sustainable model of affordable housing and community development.” They are community run, and members are always from the area the CLT serves.

CLTs can acquire property just like any developer, as well as through donation. The goal is not to maximize profit, however, but to hold the property and keep it affordable. The Somerville CLT model would be to rent or sell the units on the property at affordable rates but continue to own the land underneath.

“Community land trusts are nonprofit, community based organizations that acquire and main land permanently,” said Somerville CLT volunteer and Union Square Neighborhood Council board member Ben Baldwin. “Whatever is built on a land trust is owned, but you rent the land underneath monthly, through a ground lease, which keeps the housing off of the regular market.”

CLTs are meant to help low-moderate income people and families obtain and remain in their housing. Residents get to benefit as their property value increases instead of being pushed out.

Baldwin emphasized that an important aspect of CLTs is not just the land, but the community benefits. CLTs offer “ownership in a more holistic manner,” offering educational resources to prevent foreclosure and land speculation.

In his May 19 newsletter, Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen advocated for the creation of a CLT.

“CLTs are one of the most effective tools there is to create and preserve permanently affordable housing, and to increase neighborhood stability for low- and moderate-income people as rents and home-prices continue to skyrocket,” he wrote. “The Somerville CLT will be a non-profit organization of, by, and for the people of Somerville - to create home-ownership opportunities free from developer profits.”

Somerville is not nearly the first to look into this kind of initiative. There are CLTs throughout the state and region, such as the Commonwealth Land Trust in Roxbury, established in 1985, and the Champlain Housing Trust in Vermont, established in 1984.

Why a CLT?

There are numerous ways for municipalities to go about creating and sustaining affordable housing, many of which Somerville has implemented through tools like inclusionary zoning. The city is also home to two affordable housing developments, Clarendon Hill and Mystic Housing.

“This is unprecedented gentrification in our city, it’s becoming almost impossible for anybody to find affordable place to live in our city,” said Somerville CLT volunteer David Gibbs. “It’s one thing when people choose to leave their homes, it’s quite another when people of all walks of life, all ages, all backgrounds, have to go because they simply can’t afford to live in a place anymore. The market is not the right vehicle for providing housing, so community land trusts are about taking housing off the market and making it permanently owned by us, the community.”

Gibbs believes this is the best model for many reasons, but also for that first word: community.

“Community land trusts don’t just create permanent affordable housing and give people a place to live, they support those people while they’re living in community land trust property,” he said. “The word ‘stewardship’ is a huge part of what land trusts do. Land trusts work with people who live in the properties to make sure they’re managing their money, to make sure whatever problems they’ve got are being addressed, to make sure they are members of a community that supports each other, and that’s what important here.”

Volunteers also spoke about how invaluable local municipal support is to the initial success of a CLT, and noted how great the city has been in getting this off the ground.

“We’re really pumped up about what is probably one of the best tools we have to finally take control of our housing stock we have in the long term,” said Mayor Joe Curtatone. “What we know and what all the research has shown us is that the best and most successful form of a land trust is when the community owns it and your city government supports it. We are committed to [learning] how do we help juice it with serious funding and opportunities to build and acquire property that is currently affordable.”

Next steps

Now that the Somerville CLT is officially incorporated as a 501(c)(3), they are looking for volunteers to help with fundraising, membership growth, and media outreach.

And, if anybody had some land they wanted to donate, they certainly wouldn’t say no.