New Social Housing Programme Surpasses Target

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP) has surpassed its target of building and handing over 200 housing units for the 2023/2024 fiscal year.

The NSHP was implemented by the Prime Minister in 2018 as the housing component of the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) Programme, under the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.

Mr. Holness noted that while the current target has been exceeded, there is still much ground to cover in order to meet the island’s social housing needs.

“The programme is doing well, and we have passed the 200 mark, but we have a far way to go. We estimate that there are about 6,000 Jamaicans who need some social housing intervention, so it’s going to take some time,” he said.

The Prime Minister was speaking during the social contract signing for a house he handed over to 50-year-old Bertlyn Black in Lancewood, St. Elizabeth, on February 21.

Mr. Holness noted that 150,000 housing units are needed across the island to meet the demand and supply of housing.

“The Government’s strategy is to assist the supply side. We have demand side assistance, which comes from subsidised mortgage rates through the National Housing Trust (NHT), and that has been very helpful over the years in creating effective demand for housing, but the real issue is the supply – how do we get more housing built – and that is a very complex issue having to do with the supply of land,” he pointed out.

Mr. Holness said that there is a challenge to find contractors who can build at scale, arguing that contracting capabilities on the island need to be developed.

“We can build 100 or even 1,000 houses. I do believe we have some contractors who can do 10,000 housing solutions, but they couldn’t do them back-to-back and all in one go, and we really need to develop the contracting capabilities locally to take on massive housing developments that would move the needle much more quickly,” he argued.

“What we are doing is building capacity, and I would say in another five years or so we should have the local contracting capabilities where we can build at scale, 10,000 or more units at a time and that’s where we really want to be,” the Prime Minister added.

Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Arlene Williams, informed that the new target for the upcoming fiscal year will be 500 new units. She also noted that some 59 units are at various levels of completion.

Ms. Williams said the integrity of the programme remains sound, as rigorous investigations are done before applicants are chosen.

For his part, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining and Member of Parliament for St. Elizabeth South West, Hon. Floyd Green, lauded the programme as transformative, and noted that some four beneficiaries in the constituency have received houses under the NSHP so far.

“We have had people in each division who have received a house in varying sizes, and clearly what we have done is look out for the people who are in the most need and need comes in a number of different shapes and forms,” he said.

Mr. Green noted that members of Mr. Black’s church reached out to him and the Councillor for the Brompton division, Whitney Smith Currie, about Mr. Black’s poor living conditions, so he was recommended to be a beneficiary of the programme.

In an interview with JIS News, Mr. Black expressed gratitude for his new home, adding that he felt “good and blessed”.

“Coming up I had a rough life; my father never took care of me, it was just my mother, so I never got the full schooling. I had to start ‘juggling’ from early; it was rough, so this [house] is so good, a blessing. I am very blessed to have it,” he said.

He added that at his previous abode, owned by his elderly cousin, he was asked to pay rent to stay after his cousin passed on.

“I couldn’t pay the rent, so I had to leave to go to one of my other relative’s house, but I still had to be paying rent. So, I ended up at a friend’s house… it was a rough life. I was ‘boxing’ around a lot. When this house came through, I felt so good. I must big up my Prime Minister – he is doing a very good job – and [thanks to] my MP and Councillor,” he said.

Mr. Black, who is the father of an adult son, noted that he is an apprentice to a ‘church brother’ who is a tiler, and he hopes to improve in the trade.

Mr. Black’s house was constructed at a cost of some $2.8 million. It comprises one bedroom, bathroom and living room.