At SFCLT, our values are the foundation of everything we do. From the way we preserve housing to how we govern our organization, these principles guide our fight to make housing a human right in San Francisco, in California, and beyond.
Justice
We fight the systems that create displacement.
Displacement is not inevitable — it’s a result of policy choices and market systems that prioritize profit over people. SFCLT confronts these systems through organizing, policy advocacy, and community ownership. Justice means not just preserving homes, but changing how housing works.
Permanence
We take housing off the market forever.
Unlike affordable housing programs tied to short-term restrictions, CLTs guarantee permanent affordability. Once a building is preserved, it remains affordable for generations, ensuring stability that cannot be undone by speculation or market pressures.
Since 2009, SFCLT has preserved 174 permanently affordable homes — homes that will never again be vulnerable to eviction or profit-driven development.
Equity
We center the people most excluded from ownership and stability.
San Francisco’s housing crisis has deep racial and economic roots. SFCLT prioritizes the communities who have been systemically excluded from access to housing and wealth, especially Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) residents. We focus our resources, partnerships, and programs where the need and impact is greatest.
More than 70% of SFCLT residents are people of color, reflecting our ongoing commitment to housing justice that begins with racial equity.
Resident Power
Residents lead the way.
Our model ensures that residents are decision-makers and co-owners, shaping the future of their homes and neighborhoods. On our Board of Directors, one third of the seats are for residents, ensuring they have a voice in the direction of the organization.
For example, at 320 14th Street, tenants facing rent hikes organized with SFCLT’s support, launched a rent strike, and ultimately secured permanent affordability under the CLT model.
Solidarity
We are stronger together.
SFCLT is not just fighting for housing justice in isolation. We work alongside tenant organizers, advocacy coalitions, partner nonprofits, and other CLTs across the Bay Area and California. Together, we are building a broader movement to change housing systems.
Through the CLT Capacity Collaborative, the Capacity Catalyst, and Bay Area Preservation Finance Table, SFCLT convenes dozens of partners to strengthen the community ownership movement regionally.
Vision
Housing is a human right.
We believe the housing crisis is not inevitable, but it is the result of political choices. SFCLT’s vision is to prove that community land trusts can scale, making housing a public good that supports culture, creativity, and belonging for all.
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