Reach out, build community.

Community Land Trust (CLT), established in 2015 and owned by the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC (CHF BC), is a BC-based non-profit real estate developer that builds and maintains affordable housing, with a focus on co-operative housing. CLT is owned by BC’s co-operative housing sector and is a member of the CHF BC group of social enterprises. 

With an over $45 million operating budget, over $1 billion in real estate assets and a team of 30, CLT drives growth in the community housing sector by developing new housing co-ops and not-for-profit housing, preserving and redeveloping existing co-ops, and leveraging the value of our portfolio to build more housing. 

CLT is guided by CHF BC’s vision of growing an inclusive community of sustainable and permanently affordable co-operative housing. We aim to create and support housing co-ops to be communities that promote and embody equitable access, opportunity, respect, and a sense of belonging for everyone. The CLT is overseen by a board elected from the members of CHF BC. 

The CLT is overseen by a board elected from the members of CHF BC and is guided by CHF BC’s vision: to grow an inclusive community of sustainable and permanently affordable co-operative housing. 

Community land trusts are non-profit organizations that own (or have the intent to own) land, buildings and housing that are controlled by and for the community in perpetuity. Community land trusts take land out the private real estate market and use it generate community wealth and expand housing opportunities for people with a broad range of incomes, backgrounds and households. At CLT, we’re stewards and caretakers of community owned lands, ensuring they remain in community hands. 

Housing co-ops are made up of people who form an association and work together to provide safe, secure and affordable homes for their members. Members purchase a share to join and elect directors to govern the co-op. Co-op members pay monthly rents called ‘housing charges’. While in a co-op, members can live in their home as they wish if they follow the rules of the co-op and pay their housing charges on time. For more information, visit www.chf.bc.ca.

CLT is creating a new kind of housing co-op, in that we combine the benefits of co-op living with professional real estate development (to build new co-ops) and property management services (including things like landscaping, repairs and building maintenance on behalf of a housing co-op). 

Non-profit housing is rental housing that is owned and operated by community-based non-profit societies. The mandates of these societies are to provide safe and secure affordable homes to individuals and families with low to moderate incomes. Most non-profit housing societies receive some form of financial assistance from the government to enable them to offer affordable rents. 

CLT’s ownership structure is community based, through the co-op housing sector. We present a whole sector and tenure of housing that has a democratic process of governance where representatives are elected by co-op members.  

We have more than 34 co-ops in our portfolio, with more than 2,000 occupied homes and another 1,500 homes in development or under construction in Victoria, Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, Vancouver, Surrey, New Westminster, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Kelowna and North Cowichan. 

Each CLT housing co-op and non-profit housing provider may have a different application process for new members and tenants. Visit our Properties page to find out which housing co-op or housing provider is accepting applications or have an open waitlist. 

Housing charges (that is, rent that you pay in housing co-ops) vary by housing co-op. Co-op housing charges are often more affordable than rents for comparable homes in the private housing market, and this affordability grows over time.

Because housing co-operatives are non-profit organizations, the housing charges collected by a co-op reflect the actual cost of housing, maintenance and property management, debt servicing and reserve funds. Housing co-op homes are also never offered for sale on the private market (like a privately owned house, condominium or townhouse might be), but rather, stay in community hands. For these reasons, co-op and non-profit are a secure and affordable housing option.

We’d love to hear from you about how we can work together to provide more permanently affordable housing in BC. Contact us today.