NHT to Spend $22 Billion on Housing This Year

The National Housing Trust (NHT) will spend $22 billion this financial year, to provide safe, secure, and affordable housing solutions to Jamaicans.

Delivering the Throne Speech in Gordon House on Thursday, April 3, Governor- General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, said the figure is similar to what the Trust spent last year.

He said the NHT will complete over 2,000 more housing solutions, adding that during the last fiscal year, 2,700 housing solutions were completed, and $3.1 billion in refunds paid to 150,000 contributors.

The Governor-General informed that the main areas of expenditure will be: open market loans; build on own land; home improvement loans; and the construction of solutions, particularly under the small contractors programme.

In the meantime, he said the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing has also continued its own housing construction programme across the island.

“Among them, traditional units and the unique programme between the JEEP (Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme) Secretariat and Food for the Poor to provide solutions for needy households,” he outlined, noting that just under 1,200 units have been delivered since the inception of JEEP.

The Governor-General reiterated the Government’s commitment to meeting the housing needs of Jamaicans.

The Throne Speech, themed ‘Going for Growth: Creating Opportunities’, outlines the priority programmes and policies to be pursued by the Government during the new fiscal year, which started on April 1.