116 · Community land trust / attainable housing
Keep the land affordable longer than one sale.
About / premise
Courtyard Register is a fictional community land trust acquiring small urban sites, holding land permanently and selling or renting homes under resale rules that protect long-term affordability. The website reads like a plain-language land register rather than a property portal.
Every home parcel carries land ownership, occupancy terms, resale formula, monthly cost and board decision.
Proof / results
25 yrs
fictional affordability covenant minimum
18
homes in first courtyard
33%
average income spent on housing at entry
2
resident seats on every project board
Offerings
1
Affordable home ownership is scoped through the home parcel, with land ownership, occupancy terms, resale formula, monthly cost and board decision. The boundary, exclusions and handover evidence are stated before work begins.
2
Long-lease rentals is scoped through the home parcel, with land ownership, occupancy terms, resale formula, monthly cost and board decision. Capacity, constraints and decision ownership stay visible from intake to closeout.
3
Small-site acquisition is scoped through the home parcel, with land ownership, occupancy terms, resale formula, monthly cost and board decision. The boundary, exclusions and handover evidence are stated before work begins.
4
Resident stewardship is scoped through the home parcel, with land ownership, occupancy terms, resale formula, monthly cost and board decision. Capacity, constraints and decision ownership stay visible from intake to closeout.
Work / dispatches
A former depot became eighteen compact homes around a shared yard; the trust retains land while residents build limited-equity ownership.
Seven walk-up units on a narrow site were allocated through a published income and local-connection process.
Existing tenants moved onto long leases with transparent annual increases and a resident maintenance reserve.
Process
Acquire the land is the entry control point for a home parcel. The team records land ownership, occupancy terms, resale formula, monthly cost and board decision so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Publish the affordability rule is the next control point for a home parcel. The team records land ownership, occupancy terms, resale formula, monthly cost and board decision so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Select households fairly is the next control point for a home parcel. The team records land ownership, occupancy terms, resale formula, monthly cost and board decision so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Steward every resale is the next control point for a home parcel. The team records land ownership, occupancy terms, resale formula, monthly cost and board decision so the next decision is made from an explicit state, not memory or assumption.
Insights
Reading 1
Why land and building ownership can be separated. A working note from Courtyard Register on the decisions hidden inside community land trust / attainable housing. It connects the claim back to home parcel and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
Reading 2
A resale formula should be readable before purchase. A working note from Courtyard Register on the decisions hidden inside community land trust / attainable housing. It connects the claim back to land ownership, occupancy terms, resale formula, monthly cost and board decision and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
Reading 3
Affordable housing needs stewardship after keys are handed over. A working note from Courtyard Register on the decisions hidden inside community land trust / attainable housing. It connects the claim back to land ownership, occupancy terms, resale formula, monthly cost and board decision and names where professional judgement or uncertainty remains.
People
Trust director
Lindiwe Moyo leads trust director and owns the decisions that touch each home parcel. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
Development manager
Samir Ebrahim leads development manager and owns the decisions that touch each home parcel. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
Resident steward
Palesa Ncube leads resident steward and owns the decisions that touch each home parcel. The role is described by responsibility, not decorative biography.
FAQ / objections
In ownership projects, residents own the home interest defined by the lease while the trust retains the underlying land. Rights and resale rules are disclosed before purchase.
No. The resale formula allows a defined share of appreciation while keeping the next purchase below full market price.
It can overlap with public programmes, but a community land trust is an ownership and stewardship structure rather than one specific subsidy product.
Conversion / next step