JLP, PNP Promise Affordable Housing Solutions

By: Admin

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The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) said it will achieve 70,000 affordable housing starts if it forms the government in the five-year term after today’s general election.

The party said 30 per cent of those will be reserved for the police, nurses, teachers and civil servants, while 10,000 will be allocated to young people between ages 18 and 35, and that it will provide 100 per cent financing to those seeking to purchase those houses.

Each year, the National Housing Trust (NHT) will invest a minimum of $1 billion in social housing to include construction and repairs, the JLP said in its election manifesto released on Monday.

“We will issue over 30,000 land titles to Jamaicans who have legitimate claims to land that they have occupied, cultivated and used for generations,” the JLP said.

President of the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica, Lenworth Kelly, was not reached for comment as to how feasible it would be to construct that many houses, including what it would take for the People’s National Party (PNP) to construct the 130,000 units it plans to undertake if it forms the next government.

The Realtors Association of Jamaica referred The Gleaner to the NHT, which said that for the financial year ending 2016 it had 1,859 housing starts; 2017, 3,010; 2018, 5,397; 2019, 6,474; and 2020, 4,086 units.

However, it said that given that the suggested 70,000 and 130,000 intended housing solutions are extracted from the manifestos of both political parties, it would be inappropriate for the NHT to comment at this time on the feasibility of undertaking those over a five-year period.

Rent-To-Own Programme

In its manifesto released last week, the PNP said it plans to construct 130,000 housing solutions over five years to undertake a rent-to-own programme if it forms the government after the general election.

It said that under the programme, individuals pay rent for a consistent period, a portion of which goes towards the down payment, later transitioning to ownership through a mortgage.

Jamaicans seeking to own their first house may be able to claim up to one year’s income tax for the purpose of a home purchase, the PNP said.

It said that under the programme, 54,000 houses will go to the general public, 25,000 to youth under 35 years old, and 5,000 each to teachers, hospitality workers, nurses, public transport workers, household helpers and gardeners, security guards, public-sector workers and the police. One thousand homes will be allocated to the disabled community, 3,000 to vendors, and 2,000 to soldiers.

The party said it would work with mortgage lenders to offer a two-year ‘hard-times’ payment moratorium to give Jamaicans hit by financial fallout a buffer to recover and save their homes.

The PNP pledged to work with the University of Technology School of Architecture to establish a bank of architectural designs preapproved by municipal corporations and available to the public, with only land-appropriateness checks needed to be done.

mcpherse.thompson@gleanerjm.com