Housing Land Trust of the North Bay (HLT) is a private, non-profit corporation established in February 2002 and serves Sonoma and Napa counties.

The mission of HLT is to provide home ownership opportunities to low- and moderate-income families while ensuring permanent housing affordability through the use of a land trust model. Our mission is based upon the belief that (1) all working families deserve a home of their own, and (2) communities with homeowners from a broad socio-economic range are the strongest and most vibrant.

The model used to fulfill our mission is the Community Land Trust model (CLT). In this model, the land trust organization owns real estate in order to provide benefits to its local community, in particular to make land and housing available to residents who cannot otherwise afford them.

HLT provides access to land and housing for people who are otherwise priced out of the housing market. The model employed helps people to purchase homes on affordable terms. The land beneath the homes is then leased to the homeowners through a long-term, 99-year, renewable lease.

A key benefit of HLT is the ability to ensure prices stay affordable: When the homeowners decide to move, they can sell their homes. The resale formula is designed to give homeowners a fair return for their investment, while keeping the price affordable for future low to moderate income families. At the time of sale, the homeowner has the benefit of having equity and a possible small gain from the sale of the house.