Our Land: Securing Collective Futures in self-built communities

Self-built or self-help housing refers to dwellings to which the inhabitants have contributed all or most of the construction input themselves. By the 1990s, more than two-thirds of the population of Montego Bay and half of Spanish Town fell into this category. Island-wide, the state estimates that over 20% of the population is living “informally”. Despite this legacy of people incrementally improving and expanding their accommodations over time, state resources have gone almost entirely toward facilitating the private housing market through the financing of long-term mortgages for sprawling suburban housing units. This option has always been out of reach of Jamaicans most in need of housing,

In this webinar, we explore how a self-built community in Puerto Rico achieved land tenure security through communal land ownership. Residents of the Caño Martín Peña created the first community land trust in Latin America, ensuring affordability and protection from displacement and gentrification. Rejecting the approach of individual titles, communal ownership has been an instrument of emancipation and community empowerment.​

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