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To fully house the nation stands out as one of our greatest
challenges of the first decade of the 21st century.
The BLP
administration recognises that this challenge must be met
through a combination of policies and programmes:
- New
measures to facilitate access to land at affordable
prices.
- A
dramatic increase in the provision of housing to low and
lower middle income persons
- New
measures to address security of tenure
- The
championing of new partnership arrangements with the private
sector to provide housing for other sectors of the population
ACCESS
TO LAND
With the assistance of the private sector, we will make available
for sale, more than 8,000 lots resulting in 10,000 housing
solutions.
- Priority
will be given to first time homeowners in the lower and
middle-income bracket.
- We
will continue to give priority to the use of existing Government-owned
lands for housing.
- To
fully address demand we will, in the next term, acquire
each year, approximately 75 acres of land from the private
sector.
RENTAL
OF LOTS
- We
will continue to rent lots to persons whose income is below
$1,500.00 per month,
with part of the rent paid going towards the purchase of
these lots.
- We
will continue to make lots available for letting to persons
who have been evicted.
LEASE
OF LOTS
Long-term
lease arrangements lots owned by the National Housing Corporation
will also be introduced to provide another option guaranteeing
security of tenure.
Eligible
persons will be able to enter into arrangements for a 30-year
lease with an option to purchase. Such leases will allow persons
to build wall structures on the land.
WE
WILL SELL RENTAL UNITS
The BLP
Government commenced a programme to sell its rental units
and lots on a phased basis. This “sale of units”
programme affecting property in all the estates will be executed
over a two-year period.
The concessions
to which prospective homeowners will be entitled are:
- The
basic purchase price will be 75% of the value of the properties
as established by the Land Valuation Department.
- Persons
eligible to be potential home purchasers will be entitled
to reduce that basic price by offsetting rents paid, up
to a maximum of $25,000.
- Potential
homebuyers will be entitled to a concession to further reduce
the basic
price by claiming a credit of up to a maximum of $5000 for
agreed repairs to the unit to be undertaken at their own
expense.
It is
expected that three thousand six hundred and fifty (3,650)
households will benefit from the sale of rental units.
2,000
HOUSE LOTS ON SALE
Some
2700 lots which are currently being rented will be made available
for purchase in the old estates.
The sale
of these lots will be accompanied by a concession which will
allow the beneficiaries to offset the purchase price by a
credit of up to $100 per year of rent paid, up to a maximum
of
$2500.
1,000
HOMES
Over
the next five years a joint venture housing programme with
the private sector will be carried out in these areas - Blackmans,
Coverley, Deans Town, Ellerton, Groves Phase 2, Lancaster,
and Upton. Overall the combination of these measures will
generate 10,000 housing solutions in the next five years.
This programme
is aimed at the lower middle and middle income earners.
TITLES
FASTER
In order
to speed up the process, reduce cost and guarantee a good
and marketable title in all land transfers, the BLP administration
will complete the computerisation of the search system and
accelerate the Land Registration process for the 14,000 adjudicated
lots.
MORE
LAND AT $2.50 PER SQUARE FOOT
Since
1981 more than 4,500 persons have bought their lots in the
Plantation Tenantries under the Tenantries Freehold Purchase
Act. This has had a tremendous transforming effect on Rural
Barbados conferring not only the right to purchase but also
the right of development. In the last term we began the transfer
of title to tenants in urban and rural non-plantation tenantries
at subsidized prices. Under this programme more than 10,000
families principally in the Greater Bridgetown and
St. Michael area will benefit from the entitlement and right
to purchase.
Such
beneficiaries will be allowed to purchase their lots at a
price of no more than $2.50 per square foot, with government
meeting the difference between that price and fair market
value. The enantries Act will be amended to give single lot
tenants the entitlement to purchase a lot from the Crown in
the event that they are evicted.
Provision
will be made for firsttime owners, whose total household income
is less than $15,000 per year to purchase lots from the NHC
at $2.50 per square foot (including land and development cost)
under restrictive covenant.
NEW
HOUSING STANDARDS
Minimum
standards for housing will be introduced to ensure that private
rental accommodation must
provide basic amenities like running water, water toilet and
electricity.
LOTS
FOR COMMUNITY-BASED ENTERPRISES
The BLP
Government will make available lots for rental with an option
to purchase, to small entrepreneurs who provide services such
as spray painting, mechanics, wrought iron inter alia to meet
an expressed urgent demand for space and to perform such services
and to relocate them from the streets.
ACCESS
TO FINANCING
The Barbados
Labour Party introduced in 1998 the programme where first-time
homeowners earning up to $3,000 per month could obtain mortgages
of $100,000 at 6% from the Barbados Mortgage Finance Company.
During
the period $50 million in mortgages was disbursed to six hundred
and eleven (611) applicants under this programme.
The BLP
will further expand this programme to bring benefits to other
potential first time homeowners.
- The
loan limit will be increased from $100,000 to $150,000
- The
earnings qualification base will move from $3,000 to $4,000
- The
earnings qualification category will be broadened thus ensuring
that those persons who earn between $4,001 and $5,000 would
benefit from concessionary mortgage loans as follows:
| MONTHLY
SALARY |
INTEREST
RATE |
| Up
to $4000 |
6% |
| $4
001 - $4 500 |
6
¼% |
| $4
501 - $5 000 |
6
½% |
Funds
for these facilities will be available from financial institutions
through the Housing
Credit Fund.
BENEFIT
FOR SENIORS
At present,
persons can borrow mortgage funds up to the age of sixty-five
(65). We propose
to increase this to age seventy 70).
GENERAL
WORKERS LOAN FUND
Between
April 1986 to March 1994 under the previous DLP administration
$5.7 million only was lent to 821 persons under the General
Workers Loan Fund to conduct repairs and to purchase land.
$45 million
dollars was lent under the same programme to 3,891 persons.
During
the next term the BLP administration will inject a further
$30 million to service the needs of an additional 3,000 persons
who have applied for loans.
HOUSING
CREDIT FUND
The Housing
Credit was established in 1985 with a USAID loan of U$10m,
and has so far disbursed approximately BD$157 million for
mortgages to the Barbados Mortgage Finance
Company, Credit Unions and other financial institutions who
then on–lend to individuals.
In 2003
the Housing Credit Fund (HCF) will be incorporated as a fully-fledged
secondary mortgage institution administered by the Central
Bank.
- To
expand the resources available to it. The HCF will be allowed
to raise funds by
way of bond issues under Government guarantee.
- As
a first measure the Government will allow the raising of
$50 million for the HCF through the issuance of National
Housing Bonds
- We
will continue to provide the HCF with an interest rate subsidy
on funds borrowed to enable the institution to continue
to make loans available to clients at concessionary rates.
TOWN
CENTRES CROSS COUNTRY
The creation
of Town Centres as means of bringing vital services to local
communities is a critical
part of the effort of the Government to ensure balanced and
equitable development. The BLP administration sets as a strategic
goal the establishment of a main civic center in each
parish by the end of the first decade of the 21st century.
The creation
of such Town Centres will involve building facilities to provide
a cluster of services including Post Office, Library, Resource
Center and Market in strategic locations.
- Such
centres at Warrens and Glebe are now functional.
- Work
has started on the transformation at Six Roads. Plans for
Centres at Cane Garden and Horse Hill have been completed
and will shortly be implemented.
- The
upgrading of facilities at Belleplaine and the implementation
of plans for Centres in St. Lucy and St. John will be a
priority.
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