Community Land Trust Glossary

affordable housing

Housing is affordable when housing costs do not exceed 30% of a household’s gross monthly income. This is the percentage used by public funds to measure how affordable the monthly housing cost.

Area Median Income (AMI)

Area Median Income, also known as “A-M-I” is the household income for the median or “middle” household in a given region.  For example, if you were to line up each household from poorest to wealthiest, the household in the very middle would be considered the median.

The median divides the income distribution into two equal parts: one-half of the cases falling below the median income and one-half above the median. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses the median income for families in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas to calculate income limits for eligibility in a variety of housing programs. HUD estimates the median family income for an area in the current year and adjusts that amount for different family sizes so that family incomes may be expressed as a percentage of the area median income.

below-market rate

Any housing unit specifically priced to be sold or rented to low-or moderate-income households for an amount less than the fair-market value of the unit

Institute for Local Government

building code

Standards adopted by the state governing the construction, alteration, demolition, occupancy, or other use of buildings used for human habitation.

Institute for Local Government

community development

Community development assumes as just community development, meaning it builds stronger, more resilient communities through activities that address needs such as infrastructure, economic development, public facilities installation, community centers, housing rehabilitation, public services, clearance/acquisition, microenterprise assistance, code enforcement and homeowner assistance. 

Community Land Trust are property owning non-profits that practice a community centered, democratic way of community development.

community land trust

A community land trust (CLT) is a structure that allows land to be held “in trust” for community needs, outside of the influence of market pressures. CLTs separate the ownership of land from the ownership of the buildings on that land. This allows CLTs to create more affordable homeownership opportunities (because the buyer pays for the house but not the land), and to provide permanently affordable housing (by retaining control of the land and asking buyers to agree to resale restrictions to maintain affordability)

 Shelterforce 

displacement (residential)

Displacement is the involuntary movement of residents due to changes in socioeconomic conditions.

The El Sereno CLT prioritizes community development that prevents displacement.

environmental justice

The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. Fair treatment means no group of people should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, governmental and commercial operations or policies.

US Environmental Protection Agency

eviction

Landlord-initiated involuntary moves that happen to renters when a landlord expels people from property the landlord owns.

Princeton University Eviction Lab

fair housing

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 protects people from discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex and familial or disability status when they are renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance or engaging in other housing-related activities (see also, “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing”).

US Department of Housing and Urban Development

Fair Market Rent (FMR)

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sets fair market rents (FMRs) each year for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defined metropolitan areas. FMRs are used to determine payment standard amounts for the Housing Choice Voucher program along with other HUD-funded programs.

US Department of Housing and Urban Development

food desert

Areas where people have limited access to a variety of healthy and affordable food

US Department of Agriculture

gentrification

The process of neighborhood renewal and rebuilding, accompanied by a shift in the demographic composition of the community and the displacement of long-time residents and/or businesses.

Institute for Local Government

housing cost

Housing cost commonly includes rent or mortgage payments, utilities (gas, electricity, water, sewer, garbage, recycling, green waste), and property taxes and insurance on owner-occupied housing.

inclusionary zoning

Local requirement and/or incentive for developers to create below-market rental apartments or for-sale homes in connection with the local zoning approval of a proposed market-rate development project. Often accompanied by “density bonus” to offset the cost of providing the below market-rate units. Below market-rate units are sometimes required to be produced at the same location as the market-rate units, but some localities have alternative compliance options including off-site options, land dedication, and “fee in lieu.”

land back

Public or community-owned entities created for a single purpose: to acquire, manage, maintain and re-purpose vacant, abandoned, and foreclosed properties.

mixed-income housing

A development that is comprised of housing units with differing levels of affordability, typically with some market-rate housing and some housing that is available to low-income occupants below market-rate. The “mix” of affordable and market-rate units that comprise mixed-income developments differ from community to community, and can depend, in part, on the local housing market and marketability of the units themselves.

US Department of Housing and Urban Development

multifamily housing

Residential buildings containing units built one on top of another and those built side-by-side which do not have a ground-to-roof wall and/or have common facilities (i.e., attic, basement, heating plant, plumbing, etc.).

US Census Bureau

redlining

A system of policies and practices in the public and private sectors making it difficult or impossible for residents in predominantly Black or immigrant communities to access mortgage financing and become homeowners, thus blocking these residents from accessing one of the primary mechanisms of wealth-generation in the US and contributing to present day wealth inequality. The term “redlining” was coined because the federal government’s Homeowner’s Loan Corporation (HOLC) used the color red to designate “high risk” neighborhoods on maps used by public and private lenders to evaluate the risk of making loans to homeowners in various neighborhoods. Grades of A (green/low risk) through D (red/high risk) were assigned based on information including quality of housing, the recent history of sale and rent values and, crucially, the racial and ethnic identity and class of residents.

University of Richmond, Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America

Resource: https://nvaha.org/housing-glossary