Detroit, Michigan: Land Bank Releases 7,500 Properties in Reform Plan for Buyers

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield and Detroit Land Bank Authority Director Tammy Daniels announced a reform plan for the land bank on Monday, November 9, 2026. The plan releases city holds on 7,500 land bank properties, adds grant help for buyers, and puts a public map of all 56,000 land bank parcels online.

Sheffield said residents had told her for years that buying a land bank property was hard to follow. "I heard, firsthand, from Detroiters who wanted to purchase a land bank property, fix up a home, or invest in their neighborhoods. But they oftentimes felt frustrated throughout the process," she said. "Our residents deserve a land bank that is transparent, that is accessible, and focused on neighborhood stability."

Officials announced the plan outside a restored home in the Dexter-Linwood area and pointed to a renovated property at 2626 Webb Street as an example. "This is what returning property to productive use can look like," Daniels said.

What changes for buyers

Buyers will be vetted to confirm they have the money to finish a renovation, and the land bank will offer free tours of properties so buyers can see the repair work a house needs before they commit. A $1.5 million grant program will help buyers complete renovations and bring properties into compliance. A separate $1.5 million emergency assistance program will help people living in land bank owned properties finish the Occupied Buy Back program, which gives occupants a path to owning the home they live in.

The new tracking tool will show all 56,000 parcels, which ones are for sale, which are held back, and the reason for each hold. Sheffield said the land bank has sold and seen renovated 15,000 vacant homes and has sold more than 35,000 side lots since it was formed, according to FOX 2 Detroit.

Faster answers and simpler programs

The land bank will open a field office at the Butzel Family Recreation Center, promises a 72 hour turnaround standard for customer service requests, and adds an after hours customer service option. Small purchases for community gardens and green spaces will move to the land bank website instead of requiring an in person process for residents, block clubs and community groups.

The Nuisance Abatement Program will take referrals only, from residents, city departments, registered community groups and City Council, and the land bank will stop surveying neighborhoods on its own for troubled properties. The program will not apply to occupied homes, and occupants found in a vacant property will be referred for housing help.

Homes for people with nowhere stable to live

The land bank will spend $6 million to restore 75 homes as temporary supportive housing. Working with the Homeless Action Network of Detroit, the city Continuum of Care lead, the restored homes will hold more than 170 beds. Tasha Gray, the network executive director, called the plan a commitment to ending homelessness in Detroit and said residents will be able to call the houses a home, not a shelter.

The changes follow years of debate over the land bank future. City Council spent much of 2025 weighing major changes proposed by Council Member Mary Waters, then renewed the land bank one year operating agreement in December. Sheffield, who pushed for clearer processes as a council member, said she wanted major improvements rather than shutting the agency down.