Community Land Trusts: Can they be an answer to the housing crisis?

Conversations about how to fix Canada's housing crisis often focus on one idea: the accelerated building of more affordable units.
But, in the absence of a coordinated response to housing shortages and rising rents, communities - big and small - are taking matters into their own hands. Local organizers have created Community Land Trusts (CLTs), non-profits that buy up land within a given neighbourhood and keep it affordable and accessible for everyone in the community - indefinitely.
This model gives stability to longtime renters, especially in areas facing the threat of displacement, gentrification and “renoviction.”
For The New Reality, Krista Hessey introduces us to the people leading the charge on CLTs in Canada - both inside and outside of big cities.
For more info, please go to globalnews.ca/news/10018000/c...
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[@abdi4353]

“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

[@benzapata5645]

There is something wrong with Canada, so much land and wealth should be enough to provide homes to everyone.

[@vit8250]

When a community land trust gets big enough, there will be corruption and politics with in the trust itself. It’s just a different name for organizing ownership of land. The fundamental problems of supply and demand is not addressed with a rebranding.

[@winstonsmith935]

Look at a map of Canada, then tell me there is no cheap land available. Most of it is called Crown Land, it belongs to the Government.

[@jithinrajanvarghese5128]

Stopping new construction is not the way to provide affordable housing

[@ayobamimac]

Why the hell is this show being cancelled? This is very important reporting.

[@levelzanimations]

socialism or barbarism

[@ebrothen]

This seems like the total opposite of the way that Tokyo has managed to make housing affordable. There you can build just about anything anywhere, and buildings are often taken down and replaced after only a handful of decades. Of course, in Japan you don't see the same desire to stop demographic change in an area.

[@mustbeaweful2504]

The journalist(s) who made this did an excellent job. Thank you!

[@rboddington]

Canadian citizens live in tents in parks, while illegal aliens live in hotel rooms in Niagara Falls, paid for by the taxpayer. Why Canadians simply sit back and tolerate this situation boggles the mind.

[@very_awake]

Cool… more gate keepers

[@TUDO0007]

Problems:

[@toxicslix]

This has been a big thing before... not really a "new idea"...But funding from Gov't has been cut..

[@amandang6118]

No. Community Land Trust is all over Vancouver and most their neighbours get frustrated with the tenants because there are no proper expectations management, by-laws and rules are not followed and even disrespect to the property in the neighbourhood because they are not vested and pay property taxes. CLT is not experienced with managing these buildings. I understand the tenants don’t pay strata fees so it is difficult to raise funds to properly maintain the buildings. Too much politics involved and building eventually deteriorates. The answer is to have tenants vested somehow (rent to own) and care about the building instead of a set a mind that they don’t own so they don’t care but expects a lot from renting, low rent but high expectations. That said, there are real people that need help but what I observed are the opportunists who don’t need help play the game to rent these buildings. My friend went to use a co-op car and in the CLT buildings are new cars and even Mercedes Benz. I own a property because I don’t buy expensive things, I drive an old car. PRIORITIES PRIORITIES! Why should the working class property owners pay for CLT or donate? Then there are people that should be in hospital because they are dangerous to the community- open up the hospital. There have been so many random stabbings in Vancouver it doesn’t not feel like a safe place. A seal was brutally dragged out last week from False Creek and brutally killed, geese were beheaded and seagulls were killed. My family are immigrants from a war 40 years ago and we worked 3 jobs and never complained, got us out of poverty. So NO to CLT as a solution because they do not know to how manage who really needs the low rent or not and weed out the opportunists who don’t really need help. Yes to a strategy where tenants to eventually own something even a % of something so are vested and be accountable.

[@dc2guy2]

CLTs for the win! Power to the people! ✊🏽✊🏽✊🏽

[@Electrosoulgurrl]

There needs to be a progressive model of CLT and residential ownership. CLT buys and portion of rent payments goes toward ownership and equity and the loan repayment.

[@MrAlen6e]

There is a great issue in Canada and its the slowly dismantling of Canadian missing middle housing and affordable home that once many of its thriving communities once had. This has been replaced with horrible American suburbian ideas that have not only abolished missing middle housing for the middle class but practically made Canadian housing unaffordable for many, and small business don't have that mix retail formula that was available. This need to come back to bring back thriving communities. Community land trust are a good way to do this but more needs to be done

[@KennethYimHomes]

CLTs do not create more housing (increasing supply, lowering prices) simply because there’s no money in it. It merely provides a lottery ticket for those already living in the buildings.

[@peterwaichung]

This affordable housing issue needs the Federal, Provincal and City work together to sole it permanently. Like in Singapore and Hong Kong, a large portion of the population live in government organized, financially assisted housing model that city/government work with private developers to build apartments/condos which offers rental units and units sold for substantial lower than privately build buildings. But I guess no politicians are interested in this. We got to think outside the box and learn from cities that had successfully employed this model for the past 50 years to solve this affordable issue for the mass!?$

[@guitarpicker7464]

So the government supplies the funds to purchase these properties. Does the government get to place mandates on the residents ? Once the government backed land trusts own all the properties won't it just be another form of public housing ? Do these residents have the option to purchase their home or are they expected to own nothing and be happy ?