About HOW
As a non-profit 501(c)3 registered Community Land Trust, our organization’s mission is to enable permanently affordable homes and thriving community on Whidbey Island.
As land and building costs have increased across the board, it becomes virtually impossible for the real estate market to provide attainable home solutions at market prices. That, combined with the limits to growth on our island, we simply cannot design or build our way into affordability.
We see the Community Housing Land Trust model as an innovative way to create permanently affordable homes that are so desperately needed to maintain the viability and vitality of the Whidbey Island community. We do this by decommodifying real estate and offering homeownership and rental opportunities to qualifying local residents and families.
The model combines both public and private funds with philanthropic donations in order to purchase or develop property. The underlying land is then held in the commons rather than private ownership.
For homeowners and renters, this means that the entry price of a home is a fraction of what it would be for a market-priced home. With the home no longer a real estate commodity subject to the increase in inflation and appreciation, permanent affordability is preserved for all future owners and residents.
For the community, by the community. Our members shape the future of housing on Whidbey Island.
A Community Land Trust holds land in trust to create affordable homes that is governed by residents and community members.
