Land Trusts
Land trusts hold large pieces of land for a specified purpose. Because the ownership is unlikely to change in the near future, land trusts remove the land from real estate speculation and keep costs to potential leasees low.
Community Land Trusts
Community land trusts provide long-term affordable housing by purchasing land and allowing potential homeowners to purchase housing on that land. The land trust retains the option to buy back the home when the owner is selling it. In the sale, the former owner may receive reduced profits from the appreciation of the house and the land.
Related: housing land trusts
- The Community Land Trust: A Guide to a New Model for Land Tenure in AmericaIntroduction to and practical guide for creating community land trusts.
- Community Land Trusts: An IntroductionBasics of community land trusts from a city planning perspective.
- Community Land Trust Network"The National Community Land Trust Network is the umbrella organization supporting the work of community land trusts across the United States"
Conservation Land Trusts
Conservation land trusts take collective ownership of land in order to preserve sensitive natural areas, farmland, ranchland, water sources, or landmarks. These include large international organizations such as The Nature Conservance as well as smaller organizations at national, state/provincial, and community levels.
- Land Trust Alliance"The Alliance is the only organization dedicated to the effectiveness and sustainability of the nation's land trusts and their use of conservation easements."
- Land TrustResources for people interested in creating conservation land trusts.
- Land Trusts and the Choice to Conserve Land with Full Ownership or Conservation Easements"This article describes the economic tradeoffs of these two conservation methods."
Bibliography
Anon. A foreclosure-free option. The Boston Globe. Boston.
Parker, D.P. 2004. Land trusts and the choice to conserve land with full ownership or conservation easements. Nat. Resources J. 44: 483.
Swann, R, S Gottschalk, and ES Hansch. 1972. The community land trust: A guide to a new model for land tenure in America. Center for Community.