Community Land Trust Update: What's Ahead in 2019 - Community Land Trust Update

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Logic

Community Land Trust Update: What’s Ahead in 2019 describes how Florida’s Community Land Trust Institute expands and strengthens community land trusts through partnerships with local governments and nonprofits. It outlines three priorities: subsidy retention as a smarter fiscal policy, using surplus publicly owned land to build permanently affordable housing, and standardizing best practices for CLT documentation and procedures. The update highlights mechanisms such as 99-year ground leases and resale restrictions to preserve affordability over time.

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Community Land Trust Update: What’s Ahead in 2019

Promoting Subsidy Retention as Smart Fiscal Policy

Promoting Use of Surplus Lands to Develop Permanently Affordable Housing

Promoting Best Practices for Documentation and Procedures

COMMUNITY LAND TRUST Community Land Trust Update: What's Ahead in 2019 By: Ashon Nesbitt The growth of community land trusts (CLT) in Florida continues at an encouraging rate. In 2018, Florida experienced an increase in the number and capacity of CLTs. With support from Wells Fargo, the Florida Community Land Trust Institute (Florida CLT Institute) worked with several communities and nonprofits to establish new CLTs. In 2019, the Florida CLT Institute continues work with local governments and nonprofits to support new and existing CLTs by promoting: subsidy retention as a smarter fiscal policy for local governments; using surplus lands to create permanently affordable housing; and standardization of best practices for CLT documentation and procedures. Promoting Subsidy Retention as Smart Fiscal Policy The Florida CLT Institute is sharing lessons learned with local governments and nonprofits on the value of subsidy retention. Subsidy retention is a shift in policy from the subsidy recapture models typically employed in homeownership programs. The traditional subsidy recapture approach aimsto recapture the funds provided to new home buyers through a loan. For example, down payment assistance is widely provided in the form of deferred payment loans where the homebuyer makes no payments while living in the home and repays some or all the funds upon sale of the home. Those funds return to the local government as repaid or“recaptured” funds. The household originally assisted by SHIP down payment funds can then sell their home to any willing buyer, typically with no limits on price or income-eligibility. The funds repaid or recaptured from these sales are in turn used to assist another eligible household. Unfortunately, while this approach may appear to increase revenue available to the local government because the original outlay is repaid those funds will be inadequate to address the growing affordability gap created by home prices increasing faster than incomes, and the loss of an affordable housing unit when homeowners sell. Alternatively, subsidy retention takes the subsidy that local governments normally provide to homebuyers in the subsidy recapture model and invests it in an affordable home. Through this one-time investment, local governments impose restrictions on the resale price and homebuyer income eligibility, thus retaining the subsidy in the unit and keeping the house perpetually affordable to homebuyers. The most effective mechanism for subsidy retention is sale of the home subject to 99-year ground lease. The CLT maintains ownership of the land and conveys interest to the homeowner through a 99-year ground lease with resale restrictions on the sales price of the improvements (the home) and the income eligibility of subsequent purchasers. Subsidy retention through the CLT model is more effective in addressing the growing affordability gap, increases the supply HOUSING NEWS NETWORK | VOLUME 35, NUMBER 1 | MARCH 2019 17 COMMUNITY LAND TRUST of affordable housing, and is a more fiscally responsible use of local funds. To facilitate implementation of the subsidy retention strategy, the Florida CLT Institute, with the help of a CLT steering committee of Florida CLTs, designed language that can be applied to any down payment assistance strategy to allow those funds to work with a CLT purchase. Optimally, all SHIP jurisdictions will adopt a subsidy retention strategy in their local housing assistance plans. In 2019 we will roll out this strategy as a refinement to the CLT model strategy, which can be found in the Community Land Trust Primer (available here: [http://www.flhousing.org/publications/](http://www.flhousing.org/publications/)). Promoting Use of Surplus Lands to Develop Permanently Affordable Housing In 2006 the Florida Legislature enacted §125 .379 and §166 .0451, Fla. Statutes, commonly referred to as the surplus land statutes. These laws require that every county and municipa

FAQs

What is the main goal of the Florida CLT Institute’s work in 2019?

It supports both new and existing community land trusts by promoting subsidy retention, using surplus lands for permanently affordable housing, and standardizing best practices for CLT documentation and procedures.

How does subsidy retention differ from the subsidy recapture approach?

Subsidy recapture returns funds to the local government through resale repayment, which may not cover the growing affordability gap. Subsidy retention keeps subsidy value in the home by imposing resale price and income eligibility restrictions, helping maintain perpetual affordability.

Why are 99-year ground leases central to the CLT subsidy retention model?

The CLT retains ownership of the land and conveys the home through a 99-year ground lease with resale restrictions on improvement prices and purchaser income eligibility, which preserves affordability.

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Logic