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Report: CLT Day 2025

Connecting with organizations working on affordable and democratic housing in Massachusetts

jmm

14 Dec 2025 — 5 min read

Last weekend, the Greater Boston Community Land Trust Network hosted "CLT Day 2025" in Chelsea to connect local organizations. I heard about this only a few days before the event via the Somerville Community Land Trust mailing list (who is hosting their own End of Year Celebration this week).

I attended representing MALT, as we're planning to use a CLT as our form of legal incorporation. And since we're located in Malden, the Bus Network Redesign meant that getting there was only a quick walk and a fast bus ride over to Chelsea.

Flyer for CLT Day 2025 — A flyer for the December 6th event in Chelsea

The event is focused on the "nuts and bolts" of making these projects work on a legal and financial basis, but the overall impression was still one of a community event. Many of the materials were handmade or artistic, and many of the organizers brought family. We started the day with a group singing exercise as a warmup, and after the lunch break there was also a guided sound ritual with many attendees choosing to relax or meditate.

I was impressed by the logistics of the event, which required bidirectional live translation to support the needs of the diverse communities that have built these Community Land Trusts. On a personal level, it felt rewarding that I could understand most of the Spanish without translation - though I don't think I could give a presentation that way yet!

After an intro from some of the member organizations, everyone broke out into workshops, with each slot having a choice of two presenters.

For the first slot, I decided to learn more about the Massachusetts Legislative Process. The Greater Boston CLT Network has a slate of desired legislation, which I've come out to support in prior years. One of the biggest relevant efforts this year has been the upcoming ballot question on rent control, which is chiefly organized by Homes for All Massachusetts (of which several attending organizations are formal members).

A recent legislative effort that directly affects MALT is the Massachusetts ADU law change. We've excited about this because it would allow us to participate directly in housing production by converting unused spaces like our garage or basement. We've also looked at using this as a cheap construction option for a standard CLT "ground lease" arrangement, potentially allowing someone to build a new construction small house for 300k or less if we offer the land "for free".

An example of legislation that impacts MALT but isn't on the state radar yet would be a state law to prevent municipal "unrelated persons" ordinances (number of unrelated people per unit), in favor of density-only restrictions (minimum bedroom size). These ordinances often sit on the books unenforced, but can be brought out at any time if neighbors complain. The uneven enforcement disproportionately affects the queer community, as we're less likely to live with their family or to get married.

Slides and other materials from several of the presentations

After the lunch break, I attended another workshop on non-traditional ways to build equity in a Community Land Trust. This is a topic of interest for MALT, as we're currently majority-renter and don't expect our focus to ever be "single family homeownership". Many younger queer people want stability in their day to day life, but don't necessarily want to commit to one location. It would be great to have the flexibility to offer at least some access to equity, while not leaving anyone locked into an investment where they live.

One of the day's activities was an anti-gentrification walking tour of Chelsea, highlighting some local history and current developments, including an in-progress development. We learned about the history of the neighborhood and the organizations that support it, as well as the pros and cons of new infrastructure like for-profit housing developments or the Silver Line bus stations.

Scenes from the anti-gentrification tour in Chelsea - we did take a big group photo, but sadly I don't have it!

All in all, the CLT Day event was a great way to meet some neighbors and hear about ways to get involved with local affordable housing and solidarity economy efforts. I'm thankful for the GBCLTN putting the event on, and to putting attendees in touch with each other and sharing presentation materials (which I'll definitely be forwarding to MALT residents).

If you're interested in finding out about events like this, please consider joining the mailing lists of some of the participating organizations: