Since 2009, all of INHS’s for-sale homes have been a part of the Community Housing Trust (CHT), a shared equity program that ensures permanent affordability. The program helps people with modest incomes to buy their first homes and has made a significant impact against the background of the increasingly unaffordable cost of living in Ithaca and the surrounding counties.

The CHT’s designation as a shared equity program means that the homebuyer purchases only the house while the Trust owns the land. The arrangement greatly lowers the purchase price of the home and allows property taxes to be much lower than a market rate house. To ensure the longevity of this affordability, CHT homes, which are sold for half the cost of their development, have a resale value that is capped at 2% increase per year and are intended to benefit lower-income households for generations.

Snapshot of the CHT

• 85 total CHT homes
• 50 units in the City of Ithaca, 22 in the Town of Ithaca, 1 unit in the Town of Dryden, 1 in Seneca Co.
• As of April 2026, 31 CHT homes have changed ownership
• 116 households have benefited from the CHT

This achievement marks a significant step forward in INHS’s mission to make homeownership accessible and sustainable for families with modest incomes. With three new homes soon to be sold into the CHT, the program is continuing to grow.