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The JLP will provide Jamaicans with improved access to affordable housing solutions through a programme of Housing Opportunities and Upgrading for Slum Eradication (HOUSE).
Housing Issues
- The number of housing completions in Jamaica has fallen by over 30% from 6,998 in 1999 to 4,657 in 2001.
- The number of people who own their own home has fallen over the past ten years by over 5% from 60.6% in 1991 to 57.3% in 2001.
- The real mean monthly cost of a mortgage has almost tripled over the past ten years from J$266 in 1991 to J$745 in 2001.
- Almost two out of every five homes (37% in 2001) still have pit latrines rather than bathrooms.
Housing Solution Plan
Launch a programmje for Housing Opportunity and Upgrading for Slum Eradication (HOUSE) which will replace all slum areas with proper, affordable homes (financed by National Housing Trust surpluses and international multilateral agency sources). Replacement of slum housing would be 3000 in year one rising to 6000 in year 10 providing over 48,000 units.
#2 Revive the Site and Services programme where informal settlers (“squatters”) can purchase sites they occupy with appropriate infrastructure.
#3 Re-introduce and make available the Post and Panel concept house for rural areas.
#4 Work aggressively to identify very low cost housing to make home ownership more affordable.
#5 Actively source innovative building materials to reduce substantially the cost of building a home.
#6 Conduct an extensive review of the Building Code to determine ways of making
construction more effective and less costly.
#7 Complete land titling project, begun in the 1980s, to deliver registered titles to all owners of land obtained or acquired from the Government.
#8 Streamline and expedite the approvals process for housing and land development.
#9 Strengthen and extend the ability of PC banks to provide low cost loans for home improvement and repair, especially in rural areas.
To finance the cost of HOUSE, the slum eradication plan, the JLP will rely primarily on the surpluses projected by the National Housing Trust.
Projections of NHT net surplus on a conservative basis over the next 10 years show surpluses growing from US$2.2 billion to US$5.0 billion:
Assuming a unit cost per house of J$500,000 and use of 75% of the surplus, HOUSE will be able to provide over 48,000 units over the next ten years.
Available Surplus over the next ten years: J$32.17 Billion
Unit Cost Per Unit: J$500,000
Number of Units Possible: 64,340
Allow for 75% of Surplus: 48,255
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