Tool 4: Assessing Crown Resources This tool presents several different options for building up and managing public
land resources. As land is a critical component of housing costs, amounting to
anywhere from 20 per cent to 30 per cent of total
building costs, the leveraging of public lands can be an effective way to
improve housing affordability. These options can be used individually or in
conjunction with one another. Steps: - Read through the outlined options for building up and managing public
land resources.
- Consider which options may be feasible in your community.
- Select one or more options to pursue.
Option A: Crown land management
Crown land is typically managed through government agencies. These agencies may
have multiple mandates that extend well beyond the provision of land for
affordable housing. As a result, some governments have established supplementary
agencies that focus specifically on freeing land for use in affordable housing. Option B: Land banks
Land banks are government or quasi-governmental entities that assemble
properties through purchase, repossession, donation, inheritance or other means.
They often work with municipal authorities to acquire vacant, abandoned, or
tax-delinquent properties. The resulting stock of land can be devoted to
affordable housing (for example, through a donation to a community land trust or
to a non-profit housing developer). Option C: Community land trusts
Community land trusts (CLTs) are local, non-profit entities that hold title to
land indefinitely. They may receive land from a number of sources, including
land banks and private land donations. Among other things, community land trusts
can offer free land or long-term, sub-market leases on land to affordable
housing developers. This supports housing affordability by eliminating or
significantly reducing the cost of land, one of the most expensive components of
housing projects. Option D: Rezoning
Municipal governments have zoning authority within their community and can
leverage this authority to encourage the development of affordable housing
units. One option is for municipalities to rezone vacant land for affordable
residential development. A second option is for municipalities to rezone
low-density public land for high-density building that includes affordable
housing units. (See tool 6 for more information.) Option E: Add residential structures to existing publicly owned structures
Municipalities can add affordable housing units to existing public structures.
For example, affordable units can be built on top of government offices or
community centres. This has the added benefit of providing low income households
with easy access to public services and/or facilities. Barriers to developing unused land
The main barriers to the development of unused public lands are existing claims
and zoning restrictions. Tax foreclosures are also challenging, as it may become
difficult in such cases to clear title to the land. A virtue of land banks is
that they develop an internal capacity to identify and break through such
barriers. Some municipalities have established procedures to expedite the
transfer of abandoned or tax-foreclosed properties to new stewardship and for
use in affordable housing projects.
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