Alternative land acquisition models for affordable housing

nmgraham

We have found that land attainment and purchase can be some of the most expensive costs for new affordable housing. In our research, we came across the concept of a community-land trust where the home itself is owned by the occupant but the land underneath is governed by a nonprofit board.

What are some additional alternative models to overcome major expenses in land attainment and purchase?
Do you have any experience or insight into these arrangements?
What are some of the factors that limit the usage of these alternatives?

nmgraham

@FanyuLin I would love to hear your input on this subject and how Fluxus is tackling the issue of land in relation to affordable housing.

[Deleted User]

An idea worth trying might be if the US government gives/lends land to nonprofit organizations.
Almost 30 % of all land in the USA belongs to the government.
Much of the land is not currently used.
The organizations in turn promise to transform the land to regenerative farms regenerative grassland for livestock and for housing.
Homeless people can get a meaningful job and a small house on the farms while helping with the food crisis.
Working with animals and the gardens often heals people’s souls so the chance of getting rid of drug addicts increases.
And of course there can be other suburbs for distance workers and so on.
Just some brainstorming…

NickAzer

@LisaHomesFund @RBarragan @larzuaga @Nirmita @Jcosta @Sarah_Darr @annedodge @Jefferson @HousingMichigan @LanceDC3 @OlgaG @matteo @kennedyc @JimKing @mkooistra and @prernakuhad, given your general experience around affordable housing, I'm curious if you may have input on this topic or any insights around the land attainment side of things?

TomRuhle

I am with the Town of East Hampton (yes those Hamptons) and we use 99 year land leases, appreciation caps and incorporate a right of recapture in all our single family house ownership programs. The rent on the land equals the equivalency of the normal property taxes and the buyers pay for the home. The land is essentially free to the homeowner. This have been employed on land acquired through, purchase, tax default and condemnation and represents a direct taxpayer subsidy.

nmgraham

TomRuhle wrote: »

I am with the Town of East Hampton (yes those Hamptons) and we use 99 year land leases, appreciation caps and incorporate a right of recapture in all our single family house ownership programs. The rent on the land equals the equivalency of the normal property taxes and the buyers pay for the home. The land is essentially free to the homeowner. This have been employed on land acquired through, purchase, tax default and condemnation and represents a direct taxpayer subsidy.

This is great @TomRuhle ! Curious, is there a general model name for the policies implemented in this neighborhood?

csmith102462

To synthesize the comments of @Vesa and @TomRuhle, it seems worthwhile to follow-up regarding the ability to enter into 99-year land leases for US government-owned land to provide affordable development land. It would be useful to target specific land near population centers upfront, as large areas of government-owned land is in remote inaccessible desert areas of the western US. I have contacts with the BLM field office for Northern California, and can reach to them regarding the concept and available land if it would be worthwhile for the team. It may certainly make sense for creating affordable communities near the San Francisco Bay area.

[Deleted User]

I hope it is possible. You seem to be a person of action and connections.
Great.

nmgraham

@csmith102462 This is definitely something I've been thinking about and looking in to, however our current focus on urban communities may already (at least in our context here in Los Angeles) exclude federal agencies like BLM. State and city level ownership may hold more water in these situations, and as an example I've been looking into land here in LA through the controller's website:

https://lacontroller.org/data-stories-and-maps/propertypanel/

If you have any more resources like the one above, or more traditional ones like reports or articles, I would love to look over them. @Vesa @TomRuhle feel free to also contribute any resources on this subject matter!