Land Titling a Priority Programme for Government – PM

The National Housing Trust (NHT) presented letters of possession for serviced lots to 50 persons during a Handing Over Ceremony at Creighton Hall, St. Thomas on Friday, March 6. The 50 beneficiaries are the first batch of 140 persons who have been selected for the 60-acre development.

Delivering the keynote address at the Handing Over Ceremony, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said that land titling is a priority programme for her Administration.  She explained that “we are committed to this because we understand that it is a powerful path to prosperity for our people.”

Highlighting the importance and benefit of land ownership to national development, the Prime Minister noted that “the ownership of a home or land is vital to wellbeing and wealth creation and for propelling individuals and families forward socially and economically.” She added that it was “a critical part of ensuring a quality standard of living for the people of any country.”

Many Jamaicans have received land titles under the various Government programmes designed to expand ownership and create what the Prime Minister describes as an “ownership society”. Between January 2012 and December 2014, over 1000 property owners across all fourteen parishes received land titles through the Ministry of Housing. Additionally, there are several thousand more titles now at various stages of being processed for distribution.

In addition to the Creighton Hall Housing Development, St. Thomas is the location of other successful NHT developments such as Stokes Hall and Bellrock. Since 2012 the NHT has spent some $57.5 billion providing loans, mortgages and other benefits to NHT contributors. This has included approximately $1.5 billion in housing grants to contributors who earn under $10,000 per week and who have been contributing to the Trust for more than 10 years.

Over the past 40 years, the NHT has continued to make a major contribution to national development and the advancement of its contributors by increasing and improving the existing supply of housing; creating affordable housing solutions; providing housing related benefits for contributors and facilitating social services and physical infrastructure for communities which have been developed by the Trust.