Homing
Inc.
Our Project
A Community Land Trust.
With the current state of the world, many of us are exhausted by trying to stay afloat (let alone the idea of "getting ahead").
But you've gotta keep swimming, because we have a plan to make
affordable, secure living possible, and tangible, for the greater community:
a Community Land Trust (CLT).
What's the problem?
Put simply: Golden's land and housing prices have increased beyond conventional rates.
At the time of writing, a strata townhouse with a few bedrooms (and the opportunity for short-term rental income, of course) could be yours — for a cool $950,000.
The cost of living in Golden is comparable to some of the most unaffordable cities in the world, including Hong Kong and Vancouver.
While our population density is significantly smaller (352 people/km2) than a city like Vancouver (5700 people/km2), the living wages are almost identical.
Vancouver's living wage is $27.85/hour, while
Golden's living wage is $27.80/hour.
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The kicker? If your housing costs over 30% of your annual income,
you're considered house poor.
With a typical assessed value of $634,000 for a single family home, combined with a median household income of $87,000/year for local residents, well - over half of us fall into that category.
This is a system where housing needs support business.
We're creating business that supports housing solutions.
What's a CLT?
Great question! How much time have you got?
I like my info
bite-sized.
In a nutshell, a CLT is a not-for-profit corporation that acquires and holds land to serve the needs of the community.
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Once acquired by the not-for-profit, land is removed from market pressures to create perpetually affordable housing opportunities.
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Through non profit regulation, the land can never be resold for profit. If the organization dissolves, the land is transferred to another NFP or another public serving entity.
Let me brew a tea.
When it's ready, check out these websites:​​​​​
Canadian Network of Community Land Trusts
Kensington Market Community Land Trust​
Homing Inc.'s CLT.
Our community land trust model aims to create both affordability and financial benefit.
Affordable
land
We understand the frustration of having skills and resources, but no secure land.
It's easy to find cheap solutions that offer little to no autonomy.
It's even easier to find ones that are so expensive, you become financially handcuffed or indebted to your employment.
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Our working model offers offer long-term leases with more autonomy than stratas or mobile home parks.
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Additionally, it provides land options that are modest in size and priced significantly lower than market rate. ​
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Ideally, we'll have leases for as little as 10% of the annual household income (based on $50,000 a year), or about $400/month.
If you're earning Golden's living wage, you could save up to 20% of your income annually to put towards a home.
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P.S. Your income will not determine your land lease. We just use this as a metric for our target pricing.
Social
enterprise
Our first business is affordable long-term land leases, offset by short-term rentals.
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Instead of saying, "if you buy this house and run it as a BnB, you might be able to afford it over 30 years",
we're saying:
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We'll run four, small-footprint, short-term rentals, and provide 40 affordable land lease options in the same development timeline.
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Uniquely, CLTs also offer affordable leases to small business. This means we're not only a business that serves the community, but we're opening the door for other small businesses to form and flourish - independently of Homing Inc.
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We'll make sections of our financial strategy and business plan available as they're completed.
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Community engagement is crucial and ongoing as our project takes shape, and we'd love to have your input.
Please fill out the survey on our homepage.
Commmunity
investment
We're exploring alternative pathways to traditional lending — particularly ones that align with our value of reciprocity with the greater community.
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Currently, the pathway we're most interested in is community bonds.
Community bonds allow individuals to contribute and benefit from the project, regardless of whether they live on the land. (Don't worry, this has been done before — just maybe not in Golden.)
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How does it work? Essentially, we create bonds (our debt) of a certain length (term), at a certain interest rate. The community (you) purchases those bonds. With that purchase, you be paid annual interest, and receive your principal back at the end of the term.
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Instead of going to a big bank, we'd prefer to borrow from you, so that interest payments stay in the Columbia Valley community.
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Community bonds help to ensure that every aspect of our operation benefits local residents. From our initial investment, to our land use, future reinvestment and community projects — we want to strengthen our friends (aka. you!).
Good things take years.
Here's our phased plan.
1
Complete strategy and raise funds.
We'll do this through community bonds, donations, and grants.
Initial planning and development is being completed by a team of dedicated volunteers.
2
Acquire land.
We'll secure land in Area A that offers the most opportunity to serve our community.
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We're using our combined social capital to inform a strong development strategy that informs our property selection.
3
Build our grassroots community.
We'll develop the lots and basic services, you get to build (or move) the rest.
Through the separation of land and asset ownership, combined with greater space and autonomy, we want you to benefit significantly from our offering.
Get involved.
Feeling inspired to get involved in something amazing? You should be!
Invest in
community bonds.
We're working on how this will look. Our "Plan A" is to seek support from Tapestry Community Capital. This organization offers a readiness program for community finance every year. Stay tuned for more information.
Considering living on the land trust? ​ Well, that's exciting! Get in touch via the contact form below, and we'll hook you up with an Expression of Interest Form.
Donate funds.
Though we are not a charitable organization, there are ways to offer your incredible generousity. Please get in touch via our contact form below to offer more information on how you'd like to contribute.
Donate skills.
Building community takes community. Whether you're a builder, landscaper, financial advisor, childcare worker, or creative individual, we could use your skills! Please get in touch via the contact form below.
Join the board.
​All NFPs require a diverse range of individuals to create a fair representation of the community. ​ Homing Inc. maintains a tripartite board representing 1/3 residents of the land, 1/3 advisors and specialist, 1/3 off-site community residents. ​ If you'd like to be a board member, please submit a resume and cover letter to the contact information below.
