The Lehigh Valley Community Land Trust (LVCLT)
is committed to strengthening communities by

income-qualified residents of the Lehigh Valley. 

 

 

The LVCLT is dedicated to creating and preserving affordable homes for working families in the Lehigh Valley.

 

The LVCLT has evolved from a dedicated group of about thirty-five, community-involved individuals who have a strong interest in the local housing crisis.  A diverse group of professionals, they have brought a tremendous amount of talent and effort to the formation of this enterprise.  They have studied the most successful of the 200 community land trusts in the country today and have taken what they believe to be “Best Practices” in designing the LVCLT for Lehigh and Northampton Counties.  LVCLT is presently engaged in the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

 

The LVCLT is administered by the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley and governed by a board of directors that represents the interests of the community.  The Board of Directors is structured in a three-part fashion, with one third of the Board reserved for those who lease the land, one third reserved for public representatives (public officials or their designees) and one third reserved for community representatives.

 

 

Athough new to the Lehigh Valley, community land trusts have been promoting neighborhood stability throughout the U.S. for over 30 years.  A community land trust is a private, non-profit organization whose goal is to acquire and hold land for the benefit of the community and to provide secure, affordable access to housing for community residents. Community land trusts attempt to meet the needs of those priced out of the housing market. Community land trusts also help to reduce real estate speculation, to limit absentee ownership, and to preserve the community’s long-term affordability investment in their housing stock.

 

The Lehigh Valley Community Land Trust (LVCLT) purchases properties, renovates or builds housing on those properties, and sells the houses to income-qualified applicants in its program.  The LVCLT maintains ownership of the land, thus controlling how and by whom the land is used. The LVCLT not only provides affordable home ownership; it also provides pre-purchase and post-purchase counseling services to the homeowners, thus promoting self-sufficiency and success.

 

The LVCLT and the homeowner enter into a long-term ground lease for the land, which gives the homeowner the legal right to use, occupy and enjoy the land.  However, this land lease also carries with it restrictions on the future sale of the property.  These restrictions ensure the affordability of the property to future, moderate-income homeowners.  This future affordability is protected by the use of a resale formula, which is embedded into the ground lease.  This resale formula allows the homeowner to participate in the equity appreciation of the property by giving the homeowner a pre-agreed upon percentage of the net proceeds at the time of resale.  

 

 

 

• Most tax dollars allocated toward affordable home ownership help only one family. With the LVCLT, the value of that affordability investment continues from one owner to the next, for 99 years.

• Nationally, homes in community land trusts have proven to be good investments. In 2008, the foreclosure rate was less than 0.52%—just 1/6th of the national foreclosure rate.

• The LVCLT renovates and improves all homes prior to sale, thus erasing any negative impacts the property may have had on a neighborhood.

• LVCLT homeowners pay their share of property taxes to the community.

• The LVCLT provides quality housing to working families with good credit, helping to encourage people to live where they work.

• Homes remain in good repair because the residents have a vested interest in the property and their community.  

 

 

Brian George, Housing Coordinator
LVCLT-info@caclv.org

Street Address
1337 East Fifth Street (at William)
Bethlehem, PA 18015

Telephone
484.893.1065 - Phone
610.691.6582 - Fax

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