Inclusionary Housing and the Role of CLTs: Cross-Regional Perspectives on Land Policy and Long-Term Affordability

Webinar Description

As cities worldwide confront deepening housing affordability crises, inclusionary housing policies are emerging as powerful tools to expand access to permanently affordable homes. Yet questions remain about how these homes are stewarded over time and how affordability can be protected beyond initial regulatory periods.

On 3 February 2026, the European CLT Network and International Center for Community Land Trusts will co-host an international webinar exploring how inclusionary housing policies can be paired with CLTs to secure lasting affordability, strengthen land stewardship, promote social cohesion, and expand access to stable, community-controlled homes. The terms “inclusionary housing” and “inclusionary zoning” refer to a range of local (or sometimes state) policies that lead residential developers to include affordable homes in new buildings or subdivisions. In some cases, these policies require every new project to include some percentage of affordable units. In other cases, the jurisdiction provides incentives like increased density or fee reductions that are only available to projects that voluntarily choose to include affordable units.

Drawing on experiences from both the United States and Europe, the session will examine how CLTs can serve as long-term stewards of homes produced through inclusionary housing programs—and why this partnership is essential for preserving affordability over generations. Presenters will highlight key challenges and opportunities, including the administrative complexity of inclusionary mechanisms, the lessons learned from US inclusionary zoning practice, and the potential for adapting and refining these tools within European policy frameworks.

Moderated by Eduard Cabré (Spain), speakers include:

• Dev Goetschius, Housing Land Trust of the North Bay, Executive Director (USA)
• Jean-Baptiste Debrandt, City of Lille, Head of the Housing Department (France)
• Jean-Marie Halleux, University of Liège (Belgium)
• Rick Jacobus, Street Level Advisors, Principal (USA)

Designed for CLT practitioners, policymakers, housing advocates, and municipal officials, participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how inclusionary housing policies work, what makes them effective, and how CLTs can partner with public authorities to steward units, embed equity, and ensure long-term community benefit. The webinar will be conducted in English, with French and Spanish subtitles added to the recording when it is published on YouTube.

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The CLT Center convenes practitioners, researchers, and communities from different regions to share experiences and strengthen the CLT movement globally. This event is free and open to all. If you’re in a position to support our work, your contribution helps us continue offering free events, resources, and peer exchange opportunities across contexts.

Moderator and Speakers

Eduard Cabré, Housing Policy Consultant (Spain)

EDUARD CABRÉ works as a housing policy consultant for local governments and non-profit organizations. He currently advises the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation on European and innovation projects, and regularly collaborates with the Provincial Council of Barcelona, the Provincial Council of Girona, and city councils throughout Catalonia.

He holds a degree in Political Science from Pompeu Fabra University, a Master’s degree in Urban Management and Valuation from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from New York University.

Jean-Baptiste Debrandt, City of Lille, Head of the Housing Department (France)

JEAN-BAPTISTE DEBRANDT is an official for the City of Lille, holding the position of Head of the Department of Housing. He is involved in European projects related to sustainable development.

Dev Goetschius, Housing Land Trust of the North Bay, Executive Director (USA)

DEVIKA “DEV” GOETSCHIUS is a nationally recognized leader in community land trusts and permanently affordable homeownership, with over two decades of experience in equitable housing development. As Executive Director of the Housing Land Trust of Sonoma County and a partner at Burlington Associates in Community Development, Dev has helped launch and support dozens of shared equity housing programs across the US. She also serves on the boards of Generation Housing and International Center for Community Land Trusts, and is a trusted advisor to local governments, nonprofits, and Habitat for Humanity affiliates. Fluent in Spanish, Hindi, and Sindhi, Dev brings a community-centered, multilingual approach to her work, grounded in a commitment to long-term affordability and housing justice.

Jean-Marie Halleux, University of Liège, Professor (Belgium)

JEAN-MARIE HALLEUX is a professor at the University of Liège (Belgium), where he teaches economic geography and spatial planning. His research focuses on the relationships between geography, urban economics, and spatial planning. He has been involved in several European research programmes (Interreg, COST, PUCA, JPI Urban Europe), through which he has developed expertise in the international comparison of land policies and planning systems. His comparative research focuses on planning cultures, soft densification, land sobriety (no net land take), land value capture, and the impact of industrial land on economic development. In 2022, he was one of the editors of the book Public Value Capture of Increasing Property Values across Europe, which provides an overview and discussion of land value capture instruments and practices in 29 countries.

Rick Jacobus, Street Level Urban Impact Advisors, Prinicipal (USA)

RICK JACOBUS is one of the nation’s leading experts in inclusionary housing and affordable homeownership.

Rick is the author of Inclusionary Housing: Creating and Maintaining Equitable Communities, which has been called the ‘go to’ guide to inclusionary housing policy design. Rick worked directly with the City Councils of Denver, Seattle and San Jose to guide the redesign of each city’s inclusionary housing program.  In addition, he has consulted on the design and implementation of inclusionary housing programs with more than a dozen cities including New York, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Palo Alto, Chicago and Atlanta.

He has also served as a Fellow at the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, a lecturer in the Department of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley and as a Senior Program Officer for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

He has a Bachelors degree from Oberlin College and a Masters of City Planning degree from the University of California at Berkeley.