Austria is for the most part an Alpine country with very limited land resources available for housing. This scarcity in combination with a dysfunctional land market and a strong interest in development for commercial usage leads to comparatively high land prices. Therefore, the typically urban phenomenon of too little affordable dwellings is a pressing issue in many alpine areas. Land policy is in this context typically understood as a strategy to correct the land market and achieve the overall political goal of enabling young people to stay in their home valleys. Municipalities have to establish approaches combining different land policy instruments to actually be able to provide affordable housing. The presented case takes a close look in the actual understanding and application of land policy instruments in the municipality of Sölden/Tyrol. Land ownership is concentrated there in the hands of local farmer families that have great influence on local decision making. There is also no well-established land market, as there is a very limited supply that is by far exceeded by the demand. The case shows a long-term strategic approach of land purchases and the combination of different land policy instruments to solve immediate housing problems in unfavourable framework conditions.