THE NUMBER of housing completions in Jamaica has fallen by over 30 per cent 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 per cent from 60.6 per cent in 1991 to 57.3 per cent 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 per cent in 2001) still have pit
latrines than bathrooms.
HOUSING SOLUTION PLAN
Launch a programme 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 3,000 in year one rising to
6,000 in year 10 providing over 48,000 units.
Revive the Site and Services programme where informal settlers ("squatters")
can purchase sites they occupy with appropriate infrastructure.
Re-introduce and make available the Post and Panel concept house for rural
areas.
COMPLETE LAND TITLING PROJECT
Work aggressively to identify very low cost housing to make home ownership
more affordable.
Actively source innovative building materials to reduce substantially the
cost of building a home.
Conduct an extensive review of the Building Code to determine ways of making
construction more effective and less costly.
Complete land titling project, begun in the 1980s, to deliver registered
titles to all owners and land obtained or acquired from the Government.
Streamline and expedite the approvals process for housing and land development.
Strengthen and extend the ability of PC Banks to provide low cost loans
for home-improvement and repair, especially in rural areas.
