Community Land Co-operative Template Rules & Guide Explanation

Community Land Co-operative Template Rules & Guide

This resource provides guidance on how to establish a 'Community  Land Trust' using a Co-operative legal structure, addressing a key question of how the core objectives of CLTs and co-operatives can be combined.

A significant problem that limits the establishment of new housing co-operatives in Australia is competing with developers for property and securing the purchase of a property to provide time to establish the housing co-operative. To address this problem we believe the solution is to establish a fund using the co-op legislation where the member financial contributions are used for the purchase of property that can then be leased to a housing co-operative. The co-op would be similar to a Community Land Trust.

What is a Community Land Trust?
A community land trust (CLT) is an organisation that provides ongoing affordable housing and other community benefits, usually set up as a private non-profit community organisation. CLTs provide a range of affordable housing that includes resale restricted home ownership, rental housing and housing cooperatives, as well as other commercial and/or community spaces.

How does a CLT work?
As CLTs remove land costs from the cost of housing they can make housing more affordable, particularly in markets where increases in land value outpace income gains for lower income workers. The CLT will charge an ongoing ground lease (i.e. a form of rent) for the land, often payable monthly by the householder. This ground lease may be subsidised for low income households so as to make housing affordable.

A CLT typically acquires, develops and stewards co-ops and community-led housing and spaces. It can serve as the real estate development arm for state based co-operative community housing providers.

What is a Community Land Co-operative?
For us to establish a Co-operative Land Trust we first needed to prepare a set of Rules (aka constitution) that would achieve the aims and objectives of a member owned entity that could crowd fund for, and purchase and lease property.

In 2023 we were successful in obtaining grant funding to pay for legal advice and support to prepare the Co-operative Land Co-operative Rules from The Bunya Fund, a Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) initiative to grow the next generation of co-operatives and mutuals, and support bold new initiatives from more established co-operatives and mutuals.

Co-operation Housing engaged Katie Innes from BAL Lawyers, who are experts in the co-operative legislation to assist us with preparing the Rules. We also set up an advisory team of experts that included Louise Crabtree-Hayes from Western Sydney University, Kerry Pearse from the Housing Matters Action Group, who was instrumental in setting up the Bellingen Shire Community Land Trust and Linda Seaborn from BCCM who is also a housing co-op resident. Co-operation Housing staff Eugenie Stockmann and Melinda Marshall were also part of the advisory team.

There is two versions of the Template Rules. One that suits a CLC that will only be a property holder and one that can govern a CLC that also has residents. Click the link below to enter your details and download the Guide.

Download the Community Land Co-operative Template Rules & Guide