The city of Waterbury promotes the construction of more affordable housing.

Connecticut, like all American states, always seeks the promotion, development, and sustainability of housing programs that can allow its residents access to dignified and affordable property where they can form a home and live peacefully in community.

One of the strategies adopted by the state of Connecticut was the state law for the development of community land trusts, which encompasses aspects such as its definition, financing, funds, and specific tax standards for community land trusts. Currently, this program is one of the main methods that the city of Waterbury is promoting for the construction of affordable housing.

To better understand this housing strategy in Waterbury, it is important to understand that a community land trust is created when a nonprofit organization acquires and owns land where the development and construction of housing or other services that are beneficial to the city or communities, such as gardens or commercial spaces, are allowed.

With the granting of this land to organizations, instead of ceding or selling it to individuals, the trust retains ownership but allows housing to be built on it to later rent; however, the goal of this law is always to develop these affordable homes in those communities where their residents are individuals or families with low or moderate incomes.

Community land trusts come with regulations regarding ownership and the transfer of the same to new residents that keep it affordable. Among the advantages of its implementation is that the state of Connecticut offers tax incentives to the developers of these homes if they maintain a certain percentage of affordable properties for at least 30 years; in addition to this, the law includes a reduction of property tax burdens.

Connecticut is one of the few states that have adopted the law and that reduce property tax burdens on land owned by community land trusts. Land trusts can receive tax easements on property in the state.

However, among homeowners of properties of community land trusts, there is concern since the homes built on the basis of land trusts have a sales restriction, designed to ensure that the homes remain affordable in the long term, and they are prevented from making as much money as they could if they were to make a traditional sale.

In the city of Waterbury, for the construction of these trust properties, residents are allowed to buy shares in the projects they are carrying out on this type of housing and will be able to participate with their vote on how the property should be managed.

To promote this type of housing in Waterbury, affordable housing advocates argue that if the state and the city offered greater financial assistance, the model of land trust properties would expand, and thus residents would not have as many problems accessing housing.

Foreclosures in Connecticut cities:

Waterbury: 450 homes.