Scaling Community Land Trusts

The community land trust (CLT) model was born from a belief that land should serve people, not profit. In 1969, a group of Black farmers and civil rights leaders in Georgia put that belief into practice, establishing New Communities, the first CLT, to protect their shared ability to stay rooted in place. More than five decades later, that idea remains as urgent as ever. 

Through our affiliate CDFI, the Institute for Community Economics (I.C.E), NHT has deep roots in the CLT world. I.C.E. helped build the infrastructure of the modern CLT movement, publishing early guidance documents, providing technical assistance, and financing land trusts at a time when almost no one else would. When I.C.E. became a part of NHT. In 2008, we inherited not just a loan portfolio but a philosophy: that patient, flexible capital, deployed with deep knowledge of shared equity housing models, can change what's possible for families and communities. 

That philosophy shapes our CLT lending today. 

Two Pilots, One Commitment 

In recent years, NHT has deepened its shared equity homeownership (SEH) investment through two first-of-their-kind pilot programs. More than individual loans, these have been part of a strategy to support CLTs at scale. 

In partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NHT and Grounded Solutions Network launched a pilot program providing flexible loans and customized technical assistance to four CLTs ready to scale: Atlanta Land Trust; People's Housing+ in Louisiana; Community Land Trust of Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast; and West Side CLT in North Carolina. Backed by a RWJF investment, the program pairs nine-year enterprise loans — designed not just for individual projects, but to for scale — with a full year of hands-on technical assistance from GSN. The goal isn't just to move capital. It's to build the organizational capacity CLTs need to grow strategically and sustainably over time. 

As the Community Land Trust of Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast put it: "By reducing the urgency for immediate payoff, flexible capital allows us to take calculated risks, assemble complex financing, and position projects for long-term affordability and community benefit." 

NHT is also the manager of the Amazon Homeownership Initiative, a $40 million pilot backed by the Amazon Housing Equity Fund focused on scaling shared equity homeownership in three of Amazon's hometown communities: the Puget Sound region, the Washington, D.C. region, and metro Nashville. In two years, the initiative has deployed $20 million in loan capital and is on track to create approximately 800 permanently affordable homes. 

One recent milestone captures what this investment looks like on the ground. On April 4, Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & Kittitas Counties celebrated the completion of Miller's Creek, a 40-home neighborhood in Burien, Washington, built in under two years. NHT made a $2 million loan to help make it happen. All 40 homes will be held in a CLT, ensuring they remain affordable for future buyers long after these first families move in.  

At the dedication, new homeowner Tiffany F. described what the home meant after facing homelessness when mold destroyed nearly everything she and her children owned: "We are not just neighbors. We are a community. We share a unique bond because we understand what it means to fight for stability and to finally achieve it." That's the through-line of this work, from the civil rights leaders who founded the CLT model in 1969 to the 40 families who just got their keys in Burien. 

Why This Work Matters 

Permanently affordable housing isn't a temporary fix. When a home enters a CLT, it stays affordable for the next family, and the one after that. That kind of permanence changes what's possible in a neighborhood. It means longtime residents can stay as land values rise around them. It means the communities that shaped a place get to remain part of it. 

NHT has deployed nearly $30 million to CLTs to date. We continue to be a lender, a partner, and a believer in this model because it works, because the need is real, and because that's exactly what patient capital is for. 

Read more about NHT’s commitment and leadership in the CLT and shared equity homeownership ecosystem here.