Mount Alexander Affordable Housing Trust

[Derek Mortimer]

Dear all

Mount Alexander Shire Council in Central Victoria is conducting its monthly public meeting on Tuesday next. Some of the motions Council will consider relate to a proposed "Mount Alexander Affordable Housing Trust". The Trust Deed and explanatory statement (drafted by our firm), is now publicly viewable on Council's meeting web page, along with other meeting attachments.

Derek Mortimer

[Derek Mortimer]

At its public meeting last night, Mount Alexander Shire Council resolved to adopt a charitable trust deed for the “Mount Alexander Affordable Housing Trust”.

Our firm drafted the trust deed.

Prior to the decision, a representative from MACCL (Castlemaine CLT group) spoke in support of the motions.

Amongst other powers, the trust deed gives the trustee express power “to the extent permitted by law” to grant long term leases that:

1. recognise lessees may own improvements
2. permit lessees to receive a fair sum for improvements on termination of their lease
3. restrict the ability of lessees to privately benefit from capital growth in the land itself, in order to ensure the improvements remain affordable for the next generation of lessees.  

Feel free to tell me if I am overreaching, but any other lawyer in Australia may not have included such powers – even my not for profit law colleagues tell me that they “cannot get our heads around CLTs”.

Derek Mortimer

[Hi]

You all may be interested to know that last night Mount Alexander Shire Council adopted the recommendation to set up MAAHT, with a $500,000 contribution to its development. See details below.

This is possibly a first in Australia,

Also it will work along side the existing CLT....  macll.org,au  as I understand it. Cut and paste.

 

Affordable Housing Trust | Let's talk about affordable housing | Shape Mount Alexander

 

Grace McCaughey

[Louise Crabtree-Hayes]

Hi Derek

Well done. This is an exciting development, as it builds on the precedent set when the City of Port Phillip set up the Port Phillip Housing Trust, extending that model by enabling the provision of long term leases with resale-restricted premiums. It may be a model that Byron Shire Council could look to emulate, as they want to set up an "arm's length" CLT.

One of the problems we found when examining Trust mechanisms is the inability of residents to sit on the Board due to a perceived conflict of interest, which erases community empowerment and voice. I note that the Trust will have an Advisory Committee. Will Trust residents be able to be on that Committee and if so, in what proportions?

kind regards

Louise

[Michael McElligott]

Congratulations!

Michael McElligott CEO, Smart Green Group Pty Ltd mic...@smartgreengroup.com.au Website: smartgreengroup.com.au

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[Kerry Pearse]

Hi Grace, Derek and all

 

This is great news – especially the relationship with Mount Alexandra CLT. You’ve put in an enormous effort over the years keeping the dream alive Grace.

I’m very interested in the Council’s decision to set up a Trust structure rather than a Company Ltd by Guarantee – and the pros and cons of both that would have been considered. Will be interested in Derek’s response to Louise’s question about resident member involvement in decision making. It’s a really great initiative in any case and warm congratulations to Mount Alexander Council and all involved. Finding a way to attract and protect local community resources for affordable housing into perpetuity is a terrific step and here’s hoping other Council’s may follow.

 

Maybe we could think about an online Community of Practice to do a deep dive into the Byron Shire CLT project that is in development and this one with Mount Alexander Shire?

 

Cheers

 

Kerry

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[Louise Crabtree-Hayes]

Hi all

I'm also interested to know if the Trust has an open membership so that people in the community can be members and have a say. The issue of how to incorporate resident and broader community voices into government-led CLTs is a global challenge. Internationally, there is a lot of debate about whether such entities are actually CLTs, and the question is also emerging in Australia.

kind regards

Louise

[Derek Mortimer]

Dear all and particularly Louise

I cannot comment further on the Mount Alexander Affordable Housing Trust.  What I can do is speak to the perceived issue of conflicts of interest where residents also sit on a CLT's board. I will do that by reference to the unnamed charity in my recent media releases that addressed that precise issue with the ACNC. That charity actually has the 2 residents on its board.  Please give me some time to consider and prepare, and thank you for your patience. 

Derek Mortimer

[organicinvestm...@gmail.com]

Great steps - keen to hear how this progresses.  My thoughts are to have a 'mother ship' across a mix of housing projects that then support the structures and capital raising - something beyond the scope or skill of housing collective.

This is what we are looking for (outside of housing) via ORICoop - given that the local collectives are the true community builders that need all the support (and short timeframes) to make these things happen.

Keep us posted - not sure whereCLT association sits to support these projects for other Councils (sigh - like our difficult one!)

Cheers,

Carolyn

On Friday, June 21, 2024 at 2:22:24 PM UTC+10 l.crabtr...@westernsydney.edu.au wrote:

[Michele Sabto]

Hi

I've been lurking on this group for a while. Thought I'd introduce myself and also say that I would be very interested in a "community of practice" as proposed by Kerry - specifically on council-backed CLTs. Perhaps this could be kickstarted by an online Zoom briefing on the two Council-backed CLTs that are the subject of some discussion on this forum: Mt Alexander and Byron Bay. I understand that Bellingen Council has also supported the Housing Matters Action Group CLT project's initial proof-of-concept phase, so would be interested to get a briefing on how that collab happened as well.

I'm working in a voluntary capacity as project lead on the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance's (AFSA) Agrarian Trust project. More info about the project is here: https://afsa.org.au/afsas-vision-for-an-agrarian-trust. The vision for the Agrarian Trust includes on-farm housing for the lessee farmers, hence my interest in CLTs.

AFSA is a  is a nfp association, incorporated in Victoria. It is led by small-scale regenerative and agroecological farmers and has members all over Australia. AFSA works towards socially-just and ecologically-sound food and agriculture systems that foster the democratic participation of Indigenous Peoples, smallholders, and local communities in decision  making processes.

We have a grant application sitting with a private philanthropic, due to be considered mid-late July. The grant application is for funds to employ a law firm and a project coordinator to assist AFSA to decide on, and implement, a legal structure for the Agrarian Trust. 

I live on the Mornington Peninsula and work part-time as a solicitor in a practice in Balnarring. From 2013 to 2023 I also I ran a private land conservation project part-time on a consultancy basis for my local Landcare Network (Mornington Peninsula Landcare Network) That project's website is www.lmpl.org.au.

cheers

Michele Sabto

On Thursday, June 20, 2024 at 2:15:24 PM UTC+10 Kerry Pearse wrote:

[Grace McCaughey]

Interesting email Michele. You may like to check out the CLT Constitution on the Castlemaine CLT's Web site... macll.org.au

Also for general information. When we started macll back in 2003/4, my ideas for Australian CLTs included having one CLT on each LGA all around the country. A CLT can do many things...
..acquire and hold land
..build homes of all types for singles, families,  Abbeyfield, boarding g houses, aged care homes etc.
..carry out conservation projects of all kinds on appropriate pieces of land big and small.
..I understand that a small % I think it is about 5% of a NFP's activities may be for profit.  So a CLT could build some homes and sell, with the land, for profit on the open market, which profits go towards its nfp work.

So instead of having hundreds iof little CLTs, all with boards, constitutions etc etc, mostly associated with one piece of land, we would have these larger Municipal CLTs doing all those that that can be done on any piece if land within the municipality.

Correct me if I am wrong on any of this Derek or Louise.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/australian-clt-network/74ed5f47-ffc5-4c38-899e-a2f32c52e384n%40googlegroups.com.

[Michele Sabto]

Hi Derek. I can't seem to find the Trust Deed on the Council's meeting web page. The supporting documentation published online for the 18 June Meeting does not include the Trust Deed, even though the Deed is referred to in the minutes as 9.4.4.1.

[Derek Mortimer]

Dear Michele

Thank you for your query. I understand you are a practising lawyer.

 You will find the trust deed at page 344 of the Mount Alexander Shire 18 June meeting “supporting information”.

 The trust deed and my explanatory statement are public documents but it would be nice if I was acknowledged for my work.

 Kind regards

 Derek Mortimer

Principal

 DF Mortimer & Associates

9/135 Mooltan Street

TRAVANCORE  VIC 3032

www.dfmortimer.com.au 

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation

[Michele Sabto]

Thanks Derek

Yes, I will make sure to acknoweldge you as author in documents referencing the deed and/or explainer. The explainer is very helpful.

Yes, I'm a practising solly.

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[Michele Sabto]

Hi Derek

Is there anything in the MAAHT Trust Deed that would stop MAAHT from funding an Agrarian Trust in Australia? See

https://afsa.org.au/afsas-vision-for-an-agrarian-trust/

Also, it looks to me like MAAHT is a version of a Community Foundation - basically a vehicle for place-based giving - as defined here by the Australian Communities Foundation (the peak body for Community Foundations in Australia). Have I got this right?

"Community foundations are charitable funds established and managed by local people to meet the needs of their communities. They bring together donors from all walks of life to support local priority needs, involving people in the development of their community. Community foundations build permanent financial assets and are catalysts for place-based change, from rural areas to regional towns and major cities" (https://www.cfaustralia.org.au/how-it-works)

Michele Sabto

Project lead, Agrarian Trust

Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance

m. +61 (0)402 459009
t. +61 (0)3 5989 7391
e. msa...@icloud.com

Please note I work on this project on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.