Berkshire Community Land Trust

A community land trust is a management tool for sustainable place-based communities. It enables people to balance land wealth in private control with community requirements for land. Food security, a productive workforce, energy independence and a robust local economy depend on access to land. A community land trust holds community-owned land to ensure permanent access, control, affordability and stewardship of land for homes, farms and businesses. A sustainable place-based community needs to manage growth, protect ecosystems and maintain a safety net through democratic processes that cultivate diversity. This is the process of place-making. Today, communities that have been weakened by the forces of the global economy are developing ways to re-localize producers and consumers, businesses and jobs, skills and resources. Their evolution to more balanced ways of living builds their resilience. Access to land can be a critical factor in building community resilience. Markets may fluctuate here and there, but in general the value of land is increasing all the time. We have only one Earth to be divided among the growing number of people who live here. Eventually pressure on land access pushes prices beyond what most people can afford. A community land trust is a mechanism for controlling land access by sharing ownership of the land for the common good. It promotes collective stewardship of common resources. A community land trust is a model for creating a commons. As a people-powered tool for achieving community goals, a community land trust is a tried and true framework of legal documents and processes that govern occupancy, property pricing, sale and resale. By holding the land in perpetuity and leasing it to occupants, the value of land is removed from the price of the home, farm or business. That lower price reduces buyer debt and improves business profitability. Equity builds in the improvements made by owners to buildings while the incremental increase in the land value remains with the community. As an open, democratic organization, a community land trust enables long-term land use planning and allocation of resources to support goals for sustainability. We all need food, shelter, energy, transportation, healthcare, communications, a workplace and education. History teaches us whoever controls our land will control our future. Wise people committed to life in a shared place use a community land trust to share ownership of the land for the common good. A Community Land Trust can:
• Allocate land for strategic purposes
• Enable targeting of social benefits to specific groups
• Encourage investment in real property and business
• Reduce the cost of opportunity for entrepreneurs
• Increase farming and local food production
• Support workforce development and retention
• Provide equitable, inclusionary and affordable housing
• Protect natural resources