NHT Contributors Can Access Smart Energy Loan July 1
By: , March 23, 2024
Photo: Donald De La Haye
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, announcing new policy changes at the National Housing Trust (NHT) while making his contribution to the 2024/25 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on March 21.The Full Story
National Housing Trust (NHT) contributors will be able to access a new loan product to retrofit their homes with smart energy solutions, as at July 1, 2024.
Under the Smart Energy Home Improvement Loan, contributors will be able to acquire any of the following: solar panels and batteries; solar water heaters; solar insulation; other renewable energy technology such as windmills, hydropower and biomass; and rainwater harvesting and storage, to include water tanks and pumps.
The Prime Minister, in announcing the loan product during his contribution to the 2024/25 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on March 21, said that the assets must have a useful life that meets or exceeds the loan term.
He pointed out that each contributor may access up to $1.5 million.
Two contributors will be able to join to access $1.5 million each at a rate of five per cent with a payback period of up to 10 years.
“The NHT is developing a new green energy initiative to be responsive to the climate change impacting dwellings. This new policy will have direct impact on the NHT’s design of new structures, which will be optimised for natural cooling and cross-ventilation, rainwater harvesting and solar energy,” he pointed out.
Additionally, Prime Minister Holness informed that in 2024/2025, the NHT will expand its Home Grants to include the installation of solar panel systems on the houses of public-sector pensioners, at a maximum of $1.5 million each.
“The programme will target 30 of these pensioners per parish each year, for the next three years,” he said.
He said that beneficiaries will be selected at random, after being stratified by parish and after satisfaction of certain criteria.
These include that, the pensioner was earning less than $30,000 per week at the point of retirement, is a homeowner, who is 60 years or older, and must not have already installed these systems.
The Prime Minister indicated that preference will be given to pensioners who live in areas with unreliable or irregular electricity supply.
“This grant will enable them to reduce their utility bill and reduce environmental impacts,” he said.