Why Does Government Support Community Land Trusts?
- Housing unaffordability (in the absence of CLTs) creates many social problems.
- Local employees are often unable to live where they work due to housing costs.
- Gentrification (and associated increases in home values) drives residents out of their community.
- Huge cost to taxpayers ($71 billion) for band-aid solutions (chart).
- Government subsidies (e.g. FHOG) are retained in the CLT upon resale, as opposed to being lost with standard market homes. (see chart below)
Source: Davis, Stokes, Lands in Trust, Homes that Last, 2009
Lack of affordable housing does not just affect low income Australians. It affects nearly everyone, as housing costs in Australia are among the highest in the world. Due to this problem government is forced to lose $71 billion of taxpayer money to put a band aid on the problem. CLTs address the source of the problem by preventing the continuing price escalation that prices people out of the market.