09/14/2026
The United States faces an affordable housing crisis, with housing costs rising far faster than incomes & demand significantly outpacing supply.
We’re excited to share a new national study from the Detroit Justice Center exploring an important question: Can we pair the scale of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) financing with the long-term affordability of Community Land Trusts (CLTs)?
We found that the answer is yes!
LIHTC and CLTs can work together, but structure matters; whether they work well together depends heavily on the organization’s capacity, project structure, and a CLT's ability to maintain meaningful control over affordability and stewardship outcomes.
Read the new report on our website!
🔗 DetroitJustice.org/Exploring-Compatibility (link in bio!)
We surveyed 30+ CLTs across the country, representing nearly half the U.S. population, conducted interviews and research, and examined different approaches to structuring LIHTC-financed housing.
No single model exists for integrating LIHTC into CLT developments. However, projects that retain stronger CLT ownership and governance structures are generally better positioned to preserve long- term affordability, stewardship, and community control.
At the same time, respondents consistently identified LIHTC complexity, limited organizational capacity, and competition for funding as major barriers to participation.
LIHTC-CLT developments are not a silver bullet— but they offer one of the most promising opportunities to combine large-scale affordable housing production with permanent affordability.
