Land Trust

Definition

There are two distinct definitions of a land trust…


Land Trust

What is ‘Land Trust’

A legal agreement where a trustee is appointed to maintain ownership of a piece of real property for the benefit of another party: namely, the beneficiary of the trust. Land trusts are used by several different types of organizations for several reasons; nonprofit entities use them to hold conservation easements, and corporations and investment groups use them to accumulate large portions of land.

Explaining ‘Land Trust’

Corporations and other institutional buyers sometimes use these trusts to discreetly purchase large tracts of land so as to avoid publicity. Publicity could cause the price of further land purchases to increase and potentially disrupt the firm’s plans for developing or profiting from the land. Individuals usually use land trusts for privacy and to avoid probate.

Further Reading

  • Wake up Fannie, I think I got something to say to you: financing community land trust homebuyers without stripping affordability provisions – heinonline.org [PDF]
  • The community land trust as a highway environmental impact mitigation tool – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
  • Assessing the intention of land trust representatives to collaborate with tourism entities to protect natural areas – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
  • Between boundaries: From commoning and guerrilla gardening to community land trust development in Liverpool – onlinelibrary.wiley.com [PDF]
  • The Land Trust Without Land: The Unusual Structure of the Chicago Community Land Trust – www.jstor.org [PDF]
  • Research on the Feasibility of Rural Land Trust Circulation [J] – en.cnki.com.cn [PDF]
  • Exploration on Trust System of Rural Land [J] – en.cnki.com.cn [PDF]
  • Forergn Rural Lond Trust: Current Situatron of Research and Review [J] – en.cnki.com.cn [PDF]
  • The Burlington community land trust: A socialist approach to affordable housing? – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]