One Roof’s Community Land Trust program allows lower income home buyers to purchase Land Trust homes for a significantly reduced price. In exchange for this assistance, One Roof maintains ownership of the land, which homeowners lease for a small fee. When homeowners move, they agree to pass on the benefits they received by selling their home below market price to another income-qualified buyer.
When Land Trust homeowners sell their homes they receive the amount they originally paid for the house, plus twenty-five percent of how much the property (house and land) appreciated in value. That new amount is what the next buyer pays for the house and the leasehold interest in the land.
Because of the Land Trust resale formula, the organization’s initial investment (in the form of down-payment and rehab assistance) is recycled and stays with the home every time it is sold. To date, One Roof Community Housing has resold over 218 Land Trust homes and recycled over $15 million in subsidies, preserving our community’s investment.
The Community Land Trust model is designed to provide access to land and housing to people who might otherwise be denied access; to increase long-term community control of neighborhood resources; to empower residents through involvement and participation in the organization; and to preserve the affordability of housing permanently.
Currently, there are an estimated 12,000 community land trust homes nationwide. To learn more about the history of the Community Land Trusts and to find other community land trusts in the country visit groundedsolutions.org and interactive map of land trusts around the country.
Information about our current and upcoming Land Trust homes available for purchase can be found here.
