The Island Housing Trust works closely with the community and prospective homeowners and tenants as we design and develop our homes.  Our goals are to acquire property that is close to workplaces, accessible by public transportation, within areas that have already been developed, and to use existing housing stock through renovations and house moves whenever possible. We try to minimize impact on the land, fit our house designs into existing neighborhoods, as well as model our scattered site developments on existing neighborhoods.  While achieving affordability is a primary concern, we are also committed to green and high performance building practices that lead to low maintenance and energy costs.  See the Island Housing Trust's Green Building Practices and findings published in an Energy Analysis conducted in 2009 in the PUBLICATIONS section. Partnerships between leading land conservation organization and the Trust have also realized the benefits of Conservation Based Affordable Housing. See the Conservation Fund’s report in the PUBLICATIONS section.

By the end of 2010 the Trust hopes to have built, moved, and/ or renovated over 40 homes on ground leased land, in the five towns across Martha's Vineyard.