Developers Urged to get into Low-Income Housing Market

Chairman of the National Housing Trust (NHT), Mr. Howard Mitchell, has said that the developers’ incentive programme, announced by the Government, provides an excellent opportunity for private sector developers to enter the low-income housing market.
Speaking on a tour of the Twickenham Park Housing Development in St. Catherine today (April 21), Mr. Mitchell encouraged private developers to make use of the facility, which will see a reduction in the interest rate charged on interim construction loans from eight per cent to three per cent, over the next three years.
It will apply to two-bedroom units delivered at a cost not exceeding $5.5 million and studio units not exceeding $3 million.
Mr. Mitchell noted that many private developers have centred their operations on providing housing for Jamaicans in the upper income bracket, but noted that the provision of affordable housing has to be part of a national consensus involving private players.
Mr. Mitchell pointed out that the Government’s resources are not enough to provide houses for all Jamaicans and, therefore, private developers must play their part in helping to solve Jamaica’s housing problems.
“We see that we have a responsibility to initiate excitement and interest and movement in a particular direction. That is our responsibility. We are leaders in the housing construction sector and that is what those announcements were about. It is not about us providing housing for everybody in Jamaica,” he explained.
The facility, targeting developers, was one of several initiatives announced by Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, in his budget presentation on Tuesday (April 20).
Others included a lowering of interest rates to borrowers and the removal of the need for down payments on NHT units.