State-Led Commons? Rethinking Housing Affordability Through Community Land Trusts

Xenia Katsigianni (), Rihab Oubaidah, Pieter Van den Broeck, Angeliki Paidakaki and Antigoni Faka ()
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Xenia Katsigianni: Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering Science, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Rihab Oubaidah: Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Pieter Van den Broeck: Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering Science, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Angeliki Paidakaki: Department of Geography, Harokopio University of Athens, 17676 Kallithea, Greece
Antigoni Faka: Department of Geography, Harokopio University of Athens, 17676 Kallithea, Greece

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-22

Abstract: Community Land Trusts (CLTs) have emerged as alternative housing models mainly taken up by civil society organizations aiming to de-commodify land and ensure long-term affordable housing, while fostering participatory democratic governance and (re)claiming the right to homeownership. Drawing on empirical evidence from the CLT in Leuven (Belgium) and research conducted between November 2022 and February 2025, this study examines state-led CLTs and their potential in providing affordable housing and democratizing housing systems. The leading role of local authorities serves as a catalyst facilitating access to land and resources while setting up democratic and collaborative governance processes towards the creation of housing commons. However, their involvement introduces market mechanisms that undermine long-term affordability. This research mobilizes the literature on commons and commoning, housing affordability debates and governance theories to explore the paradox of state-led CLTs: Can they democratize housing governance, or does state involvement inevitably reinforce the market mechanisms they seek to counteract? The paper argues that states can initiate commons without fully co-opting them, provided governance is polycentric and reflexive. The contribution of state-led housing commons lies not in radical rupture but in incremental decommodification and emergent commoning, showing how commons can evolve within capitalist states.

Keywords: Community Land Trust; housing commons; affordable housing; governance; community building (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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