The Methow Valley is a secluded destination for second homes and Nordic skiing, but it’s getting Washington’s attention for its affordable housing efforts, too.
The state's Senate Housing Committee invited the Methow Housing Trust and the OPAL Community Land Trust on Orcas Island to present yesterday on community land trusts, or CLTs.
Both Methow Valley and Orcas Island have average home prices that are way more expensive than what retail, restaurant or education workers can afford.
“The CLT uses grants and donations to lower the initial purchase price of a home so that it is affordable for the purchaser," said OPAL executive director Lisa Byers.
She says once a CLT buys a property, it sells the home but holds the land underneath in trust.
The land is leased for a small fee to the homeowner—nationally, it ranges between 1 and 100 dollars.
“The lease has a resale formula that is designed to provide modest equity gain to that homeowner during the time they own their home," Byers said. "But also, when they decide to sell, the formula sets the price so that it’s affordable to the same income cohort in the future.”
Methow Housing Trust chief financial officer Simon Windell says CLTs are a way that one-time grant funding can create permanently affordable housing.
“That's the promise that we as the community land trust make good on," he said. "So that affordability is forever.”
There are 314 CLTs in the US and 25 in Washington state.
The Methow Housing Trust has developed 56 permanently affordable single family homes so far, and plans to build 100 homes by 2030.
