Resisting the Financialisation of Housing and Land: The Emergence of Community Land Trusts in Latin America and the Caribbean

In Latin America and the Caribbean, residents of low-income, self-built neighbourhoods are increasingly turning to community land trusts (CLTs) to resist the financialisation of land and housing. In Latin America, financialisation occurs through large-scale land regularisation programmes that, while claiming to enhance tenure security, have imposed unfavourable mortgage finance on low-income communities, leading to land grabs. It is also manifested in the market-driven construction of social housing. In the Caribbean, financialisation is driven by real estate speculation, particularly in coastal areas, exacerbating displacement amid climate change. State-led programmes like Citizenship by Investment and tax incentives for wealthy foreigners, combined with the rise of short-term rentals, are pushing local populations off the islands. Despite extensive research on land and housing financialisation, its impacts on urban residents – especially the poorest – remain understudied, as do the resistance movements fighting back. This article examines how CLTs in Latin America and the Caribbean are countering displacement by collectively securing land tenure through community-governed trusts, effectively de-financialising housing and land. We highlight two interlinked cases from Puerto Rico and Brazil where communities have mobilised against displacement caused by infrastructure projects, regularisation policies, disaster capitalism, and tourism development. Building on their success, CLTs are now being explored in other parts of the region, contributing to the momentum of the growing global CLT movement.