Durrant Pate/Contributor

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced a raft of housing and other goodies, as he delivered his 2024/2025 Budget Debate presentation in Parliament last evening.

In a marathon presentation lasting for almost five hours, Holness announced a revision of the National Housing Trust (NHT) Home Improvement Loan. This revision will see a new loan product, dubbed the Smart Energy Home-Improvement Loan, enabling all contributors after 10 years to access increased loan benefit of up to J$3.5 million for the installation of green energy fixtures.

This policy becomes effective July 1, enabling NHT contributors to access loan to outfit their houses with any combination of solar panels and batteries, solar water heaters, solar insulation, and other renewable energy technology to include windmills, hydropower, and biomass.

Under the current arrangement, only public-sector workers can access the home-improvement loan 10 years after receiving their initial mortgage. However, with the prime minister’s announcement, this is now open to all contributors.

Additional housing goodies

In addition, some public-sector pensioners will benefit from the NHT’s expanded home grants to fund the installation of solar panel systems on their houses. Holness said beneficiaries would be selected randomly across various parishes after satisfying specific criteria.

For public-sector pensioners to benefit from the grant, they would have had to be earning less than J$30,000 per week at the time of retirement and must be a homeowner, not necessarily of an NHT-constructed house. The age requirement for beneficiaries is 60 years and over, and their houses must not have the systems already installed.

Preference will be given to pensioners who live in areas with irregular electricity supply. This grant will enable them to reduce their utility bills and reduce environmental impact.

In addition, the prime minister detailed his new policy mandate, whereby the NHT would not be taking on any project, which falls outside the provision of low-to-middle-income housing project.

Housing solutions for 2024/2025

He also spoke about the number of houses to be delivered across the island during this fiscal year, while disclosing several initiatives to bring proper housing to inner-city communities. He cited a pilot, which is being done in his West Central St Andrew constituency.

For the 2024-2025 financial year, the NHT is projecting to start construction of 15,009 housing solutions with more than 96 per cent geared at lower-middle income to low-income contributors. The housing solutions include 4,309 two-bedroom solutions, priced at an average J$13 million.

Another 7,600 one-bedroom units that are priced at an average J$10 million and 3,100 serviced lots priced below J$4 million.

New $15-billion project announced

Holness also announced a $15-billion project to enhance communities with limited infrastructure over the next three years, which will fall under the NHT’s Revised First Step Housing Programme, whereby the NHT will develop one-bedroom apartment complexes, particularly within or near urban centres, as starter homes.

Apartments will be made available to contributors by way of sale agreements with an optional buy-back clause, which will give mortgagors the option to sell their properties back to the NHT after a determined time. Under the arrangement, the NHT may repurchase units for sale to its contributors.

The prime minister explained that “mortgagors who sell their units to the NHT will be allowed to access a new benefit from the trust towards acquiring a new home,” noting that units that are currently under construction at Vineyard Town and Howard Avenue in St Andrew will be sold under this programme.

He said an additional 303 units at Barracks Road in Montego Bay, St James are also earmarked and will be targeted at workers in the tourism, business process outsourcing, and security sectors. Holness added that the NHT will reserve up to 10 per cent of the housing solutions in the current housing plan for contributors under 35 years old.

This will result in approximately 4,300 housing solutions being available at 100 per cent financing up to J$15 million, subject to affordability levels.

The Tourism Enhancement Fund will partner with the New Social Housing Programme to provide J$500 million to fund housing for tourism workers who live in substandard conditions.

At the same time, the NHT will partner with the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development to construct 14 homeless shelters on government lands across the island.