In 2019, Trust Montana and Gallatin Valley Habitat for Humanity partnered to create the first CLT-Habitat hybrid home in the state. The partnership has created a replicable model for Trust Montana, and hopefully other CLTs around the country, to use. A new Habitat-Trust Montana project is currently being developed in partnership with Helena Area Habitat for Humanity and the Red Lodge Area Community Foundation and will eventually consist of twelve homes in Red Lodge.
After decades of Habitat for Humanity affiliates around the world working with partner families to create affordable housing through a wealth-building model that allows many homes to be re-sold on the regular market at an unrestricted price, Habitat affiliates have begun to look to the community land trust model to ensure their homes remain affordable in perpetuity. The Shelter Report from 2017 outlines the ways in which Habitat affiliates have increasingly found it necessary to restrict the resale prices of homes with the CLT model. Developing homes via the Habitat model that incorporate ground leases is an effective solution to the challenge of ever-increasing building costs and shrinking federal subsidies. Habitat affiliates can use the CLT model to avoid having to buy back and re-subsidize homes to keep them affordable.
Together, Habitat affiliates and CLT organizations can increase the stock of homes people can afford by leveraging one another’s resources and expertise.
A Park County Partnership
Trust Montana and Gallatin Valley Habitat for Humanity have now partnered on one four bedroom home in Park County that was developed via the Habitat model, and will be stewarded as permanently affordable via the CLT model. The partner family owns the home and leases the land from Trust Montana, and will be able to pay down their mortgage instead of paying a landlord. They will be able to earn additional equity at 1.5% simple interest per year on the purchase price of their home. If the home is sold, it must be sold to an income qualified buyer at an affordable price. This partnership represents an exciting step towards increasing the number of homes people can afford in a state where median home prices are continuing to soar well beyond what the median wage earner can pay.
Trust Montana staff is available to visit communities in Montana to share information about the CLT model, including how it can work in conjunction with a local Habitat for Humanity group.
Call Hermina at 406.201.5652 for more information.
