The Valley Community Land Trust is a Franklin County MA based community land trust.  It owns land that it leases to home-owner lessees, whose rights to use  the land and limitations to the ownership rights of the homes they own are governed by  99 year leases.

Typical American Community Land Trusts are grass roots, community institutions specifically chartered to serve low income homeowners, using state,  federal and and other  funds to not only obtain the land, but usually also subsidize the home itself,  through  mechanisms such as community block grants, and  special financing packages. Other CLT's  also uses grants and other public money to pay staff to run their organizations.

VCLT is different.  Its  lessees are mostly those who have built their own self-financed and self built homes,  or those who bought those homes from the original lessee-builders,  with no financial assistance from the VCLT beyond not having to have bought the land. The organization is financed entirely through its lease fees and limited donations, with a heavy reliance upon volunteer labor.

Currently The Valley Community Land Trust owns land in Colrain, Wendell, a piece that straddles Ashfield and Buckland,  and a single home lot  and larger piece with 2 duplexes in Greenfield.  Its holdings currently contain 17 residences and  two more under construction. For more, see VCLT.org, or contact me.