Community Land Trusts
A Lasting Investment in People, Families, and Communities
How Proud Ground’s Model Works
Proud Ground builds, rehabs, and sells homes to income-qualified buyers at affordable prices typically below 50% of market-rate homes. Because the land is held in community ownership on a 99-year renewable agreement, homes are resold to the next income-qualified buyers.
As for the homebuyers themselves, they agree to a resale formula that shares the appreciation of the home with Proud Ground while enabling them to make the home their own. When it’s time to sell the home, Proud Ground is the listing agent and prospective buyers must be income-qualified.
This means affordable homeownership isn't just created once—it is preserved for generations. Our community land trust helps communities build stability and wealth while protecting affordable homes from rising land prices and speculation.
Read about Proud Ground’s history.
Watch the video celebrating our 25th anniversary to learn more.
How Community Land Trust Began
The Community Land Trust model was established in 1969 on the heels of the civil and voter’s rights movements by people who worked to create a new system that works for us, not against us. We are honored to keep that vision and promise alive today.
The first Community Land Trust was New Communities, Inc., a collective farming effort supporting African American farmers to secure land and property, thereby gaining power and generational wealth building opportunities.
The model has grown into a global approach to community empowerment and wealth creation. Today, there are more than 300 community land trusts in the United States, and twice as many globally across 13 countries.
Proud Ground is the Pacific Northwest’s largest provider of permanently affordable homeownership opportunities, serving six counties in Oregon and Southwest Washington.