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WELCOME TO THE INDIANAPOLIS COMMUNITY LAND TRUST
Welcome!
Welcome to the Indianapolis Community Land Trust! We are dedicated to creating a vibrant and inclusive community by providing permanently affordable homeownership opportunities and fostering strong relationships among our members. By becoming a member of our Community Land Trust family, you will have the chance to build a better future for yourself and your loved ones. Click here to learn more about the process of becoming a member and the benefits of joining us on this exciting journey.
OUR MISSION: The Indianapolis Community Land Trust equips Black, Brown, and under-resourced Indy residents to use land and housing to build community wealth. Indy CLT organizes residents to create cooperative, permanently affordable housing for the benefit of present and future generations. Guided by the principles of self-reliance, self-determination, anti-displacement, and racial justice, we work to increase housing opportunities with a focus on communities previously excluded from access to homeownership.
THREE PILLARS
TO SUCCESS
COMMUNITY CONTROL
Resident leadership and
community control of land.
STEWARDSHIP & SUPPORT
Long-term vision for supporting homeowners and neighborhoods.
PERMANENT AFFORDABILITY
Housing that's within reach, today and for future generations.
Our Story.
The Indianapolis Community Land Trust was founded in 2024 by the Kheprw Institute (kheprw.org) and the Homes for All Indy Coalition after 4 years of study, planning and organizing support. It would not have been possible without startup funding from the City of Indianapolis along with support from the Indianapolis African American Quality of Life Initiative for our pilot program. The "Bootstrap CLT Startup Toolkit" is an open-source video and documents that share our journey and make document templates available to any community interested in starting a CLT instead of starting from scratch.
🚀 Bootstrap Community Land Trust Startup Toolkit 🛠️
PRESERVING AFFORDABILITY IN INDIANAPOLIS:
THE CASE FOR A CLT IN INDY
With the exponentially rising costs of housing, many Black, Brown, and low-income residents in Indianapolis struggle to find safe and affordable places to live, which puts a strain on their ability to build wealth and contribute to the community.
Indianapolis has historically held a reputation for being affordable, but the reality is changing. Due to elevated prices and rising interest rates, the affordability of purchasing a home in the Indianapolis metro area is near its lowest point in more than 15 years. In just the past 8 years, the cost of purchasing an average-price home has increased by a range of 61% to 88%. Unfortunately, household incomes have not kept up. Though the average hourly wage has increased by 28% since 2015, an additional 22 hours of work per month has become necessary to cover the mortgage on a newly purchased average-price home.
The lack of affordable housing is not just a problem for individual families, it also has a ripple effect on the larger community. When families cannot afford to live in stable and safe homes, it affects their health, their ability to pursue education and job opportunities, and their overall well-being. Creating a CLT in Indianapolis will not solve these deep problems, but we believe it can make a contribution toward addressing these challenges by providing a pathway to cooperative homeownership, stabilizing communities, and building relationships and community wealth.
THE CLT ADVISORY BOARD