HAJ to Provide 10,000 Housing Solutions in Four Years

The Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) continues to provide affordable housing solutions for low and middle-income-earning Jamaicans as well as provide for the regularisation of informal settlements.

Providing an update on the agency in his contribution to the 2024/25 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives recently, Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, said of the 14,000 housing solutions the HAJ has committed to start, approximately 4,000 have been achieved.

“Over the next four years, the HAJ is projecting approximately 10,000 housing starts and just over 6,000 deliveries,” he further noted.

He pointed out that in 2024/2025, construction will commence at Bay Farm Road, St. Andrew with 72 solutions; Clarks Town, Trelawny, 721 solutions; Luana Gardens 4, St. Elizabeth, 587 solutions; Oasis at Montego Bay, 96 solutions; and Grange Pen, St. James, 1,250 solutions through a Joint Venture.

The Prime Minister said these five developments account for 2,726 solutions to address the needs in the low to middle-income market.

Meanwhile, he said the HAJ has been on a path to transform brownfield sites by undertaking infrastructural work in concert with key stakeholders, such as the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).

He informed that brownfield projects to be undertaken in 2024/25 include Retirement, St. James, 1,547 solutions; Eden Park, St. James, 144 solutions; and Norwich, Portland, 423 solutions.

“Security of tenure of citizens of brownfield sites is of paramount importance to me and many members of this Honourable House,” he said.

He stated that during 2023/24, the HAJ continued work in the Grange Pen Brownfield Development geared towards bringing water, sewerage and infrastructure to households and providing 314 Certificates of Title.

The Prime Minister said this will enable residents within the community to know what it means to finally have real security of tenure.

Additionally, he informed that the HAJ will be intensifying title issuance.