Enabling Permanent Affordability

Our Model

The Olympic Housing Trust (OHT) is Jefferson County and Clallam County’s only community land trust. OHT primarily focuses on providing affordable homeownership opportunities and is preparing to offer affordable rentals.

A community land trust (CLT) is a non-profit organization that stewards and creates permanently affordable housing. In addition to housing, we also prioritize community spaces such as gardens, and other shared assets on the behalf of and for the good of the people.

OHT aims to serve local households who earn regular income but cannot reasonably compete in the rental or ownership market. OHT seeks to provide subsidies from public and private funding sources to bring property into stewardship.

Once property is secured, the land associated with the house will be held by OHT under a renewable 99-year ground lease agreement that enables permanent affordability. This model allows OHT to moderate the resale of the house so that the home will be protected as ‘permanently affordable’ and not enter the speculative housing market.

Instead, the homeowner earns a modest, annual appreciation of 1.5% according to OHT’s resale formula. The longer a homeowner stays in the house, the more they will accrue in annual equity.

National data shows that 60% of CLT homeowners move onto market rate housing after their first CLT home indicating that this housing type is a great start for a first-time home buyer.

Project Types

OHT can develop homes for rent or for purchase through new construction, acquisition or donation. The organization seeks to innovate beyond the typical affordable housing model by prioritizing projects which generate affordable housing and support open space, access to food production and other holistic community values.

These priorities are demonstrated in both the Dundee Hill project and the Chimacum Commons project whereby the housing will be clustered and the open space preserved or used for food production.

Dundee Hill will offer five affordable homeownership opportunities to local households earning less than 80% of the area median income.

Chimacum Commons will offer a mixture of affordable homeownership and affordable rentals. The income cap has not yet been established.

Area Median Income

In Jefferson County, the area median income in 2025 was $106,200 and in Clallam, $90,400 for a household of four.

The homes that OHT currently stewards are owned by folks who are, or were, below 80% of area median income (AMI) at the time of purchase.

Affordable housing organizations are typically confined by public funders to serve households earning below 80% AMI.

While there is considerable need for households earning below 80% AMI, there has long persisted a gap of need above 80% AMI where households do not qualify for state or federal support but are not earning enough to actually compete for market rate housing.

In Jefferson County where the median home price is above $650,000 as of 2025, a household who is lucky enough to find a place to consider buying must earn upwards of 200% AMI to be able to afford the purchase. In light of this untenable situation, OHT has decided to widen its internal limits on the range of households the organization can serve from 50% - 120% AMI. However, funder requirements dictate the limit. In the case of Dundee Hill, OHT must abide by the 80% AMI limit.

The choice to serve those earning above 80% AMI is due to the clear need for more workforce housing, however public funders are still generally not willing to fund projects that serve higher AMI households. Supporting the greater workforce housing issue will then depend on OHT securing philanthropic partnerships that wish to see a broader coalition being served.

Source: Housing Solutions Network
*Home purchasing range is based on a 30 year mortgage financed at 6.6% with a 5% down payment and a private mortgage insurance rate of .85%. Payments include estimated property tax and estimated home insurance, and assume excellent credit and no other debt obligations.
Median Home Price was captured from RocketHomes.com

“A Guide For Local Governments” from the National League of Cities and Grounded Solutions Network