Forest Row - Model for Affordable Housing
Forest Row is a neighborhood of eighteen families on a
twenty-one acre site located two miles from downtown Great
Barrington, Massachusetts. The homes are clustered on
five acres in two quadruplex, three duplex, and four single-family
buildings. The rest of the site is predominantly wooded.
Construction of the buildings began in 1986 after the
Community Land Trust received a Planned Unit Residential
Development (PURD) permit from the Town of Great Barrington.
Residents own their own homes, much like a condominium,
while the Community Land Trust retains ownership of the
land itself. Homeowners lease the land on a 99-year basis.
The Forest Row Land Use Plan broadly determines how the
land may be used within ecological guidelines. The Forest
Row Association, made up of homeowners, manages specific
uses of the land by Forest Row members.
Homeownership at Forest Row is reserved for year-round
residents. Families purchase the replacement cost of their
units adjusted for deterioration, but do not purchase
the land value. This keeps the value of land out of the
purchase cost and thus keeps Forest Row homes more affordable
than comparable units in the region.
Original financing to build Forest Row came from loans
from committed local members of the Community Land Trust
and from local bank financing. No government subsidy programs
were used in the development of the neighborhood. In addition,
in order to help first time home buyers purchase homes
at Forest Row, a group of Berkshire second home owners
created a pool of low-cost second mortgage funds to help
with down payment costs. This pool, managed by the Community
Land Trust, was known as The Fund for Affordable Housing.
Later The Fund incorporated separately as a charitable
organization to help create additional affordable housing.
The Fund employed the skills of its board of directors
to build one of the single family homes at Forest Row
and offer it to a local family at below replacement costs.
Forest Row is an example of how first-time homebuyers,
concerned residents, and the professional community working
together can create permanently affordable homeownership
opportunities in a region without relying on government
subsidy programs.
Lease Agreement
This is based on leases used by the Jewish National Fund
and modified over the years within Massachusetts Law.
Consult with your local lawyer for application to your
local laws. The object is to provide leaseholders with
ownership of all buildings and other improvements on the
site while maintaining ownership of the land itself within
the Trust. The resale restrictions call for the leaseholder
to retain the current replacement value of improvements
on the site, adjusted for deterioration, without capturing
the speculative land value.
Online | PDF
Addendum to the Lease (see Indian Line
Farm lease addendum)
This addendum is for the benefit of a mortgager of the
building on leased land. It allows a mortgager to be free
from resale restrictions in the event of a foreclosure.
There is also ample provision for the CLT to correct any
default before foreclosure.
Online | PDF
Forest Row Land Use Plan
This model is for a multiple housing site, but the same
detail would be used even for a single family site to
show the maximum use intended for the site. The Land Use
Plan is the heart of a lease agreement. Individual homeowners
at Forest Row lease the space around their home privately
and then lease the common areas together with the other
residents of Forest Row.
PDF
Notice of Lease (see Indian Line Farm
notice of lease)
The Notice of Lease, description of the property leased,
and the Land Use Plan are recorded at the registry of
deeds after signing.
Online | PDF
Homeowners' Association Bylaws
Online | PDF
Homeowners' Agreement relative to use and upkeep of common
areas
Online | PDF
Agreement between owners of multiple-unit buildings
Online | PDF
Homeowners' Association Policies
Online | PDF
*Download all of the above documents
in a single,
compressed .zip file: as .pdf |
as.rtf (for microsoft
word)
Return to> Community
Land Trusts Page
Go to>
Section I:
Background Materials
The rationale and history behind creating a Community
Land Trust.
Section II: Creating
a Community Land Trust Organization
Brochure, bylaws and articles of organization for the
Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires.
Section III:
Forest Row Model for Affordable Housing
History and legal documents for Forest Row.
Section IV: Indian
Line Farm Model for Farmland Preservation & Conservation
History and legal documents for Indian Line Farm.
Access to these materials is free of charge, but we ask
you to consider making a contribution
to the E. F. Schumacher Society, a 501c3 tax-exempt organization,
to support our continued work.
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