400 Persons to Receive Grants to Offset Land Registration Costs
By: , February 27, 2023
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (fourth left) witnesses a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the VM Group, VM Foundation and the National Land Agency (NLA), which will provide grants to 400 persons to offset costs associated with land registration. The signing ceremony took place on Friday (Feb. 24) at Jamaica House. The signatories (from left) are: Senior Director (Acting), Land Administration and Management, NLA, Nickoy Young; Chief Executive Officer (CEO), VM Foundation, Samantha Charles; President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), VM Group, Courtney Campbell; CEO and Commissioner of Lands, NLA, Cherise Walcott; and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Audrey Sewell.
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, addressing a ceremony for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the VM Group, VM Foundation and the National Land Agency (NLA) at Jamaica House on Friday (Feb. 24). Under the agreement, eligible persons will be able to access grants to offset costs associated with registering land with the NLA.The Full Story
Approximately 400 Jamaicans will benefit from a $30 million grant to offset the land survey costs associated with registering a parcel of land with the National Land Agency (NLA).
Persons will be able to access up to $75,000 under the three-year partnership between the VM Group through the VM Foundation, and the NLA.
The programme will roll out in April in the NLA’s Land Administration Management Division Project Areas.
These are the parishes of St. Mary, Portland and St. Thomas; Naggo Head in St. Catherine; and Tel-Aviv, South Side, Rose Gardens, Rose Town, Golden Spring, Rose Hall and Lavern Tavern and its environs in Kingston.
Eligible applicants should not have lands exceeding five acres and will be contacted by the NLA.
At the signing ceremony for the arrangement, held at Jamaica House on Friday (Feb. 24), Prime Minister, the Most Hon.
Andrew Holness, welcomed the partnership “in moving forward Jamaica’s land registration numbers.”
He noted that the grant will address one of the impediments to persons formalising land ownership.
“The land survey can be a bit costly and is probably the hurdle that prevents most people from going through this process,” he contended.
“I am hoping that other mortgage companies will see the wisdom of partnering with the NLA and come on board as well,” he added.
In his remarks, President and Chief Executive Officer of VM Group, Courtney Campbell, noted that last year, the institution disbursed over $19 billion in new mortgages to help Jamaicans acquire their own home.
He noted that there are “thousands who are in the informal economy,” who need assistance to get formalised.
“Sponsoring the survey costs in the land titling process is aligned with our commitment to mutuality because this is about working collaboratively to make the wider community flourish,” he said.
The Land Administration and Management Division of the NLA is responsible for assisting persons to obtain a registered Certificate of Title and updating existing registered titles in the designated project areas.