Campbell promises PNP to revolutionise housing
Published:Tuesday | April 22, 2025 | 12:11 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
Dr Dayton Campbell, general secretary of the People’s National Party (PNP), has declared that a future PNP government will revolutionise housing in Jamaica using savings from the National Housing Trust (NHT), ensuring that more Jamaicans can afford homes.
Addressing supporters during a mass meeting in Red Bank Square, St Elizabeth South Eastern, on Sunday night, where Spanish Town Mayor Norman Scott is campaigning to unseat incumbent Frank Witter, Campbell said the $11 billion currently redirected from the NHT into the national Budget would instead be kept within the Trust to build homes for citizens.
“When you go to buy a house from the National Housing Trust, the land cost in the house price is roughly two and a half to three million dollars because that money is taken out of the Housing Trust every year for the last 11 to 12 years. We are going to ensure that the land cost is discounted when you go to buy a NHT house,” Campbell told cheering supporters.
According to Campbell, this move will allow homeowners to start establishing equity, benefiting from both the discounted land value and the value of the house.
He also announced that the PNP’s housing policy would cater to farmers who do not have pay stubs but earn steady incomes.
“So the next PNP administration is going to allow you, when you see the NHT house and you want it, we are going to allow you to apply for it and make your payments on a monthly basis in the form of rent. And once you prove to us that after six months you have been consistent with your payments, we will move it from rent to mortgage in a rent-to-own proposal,” he said.
Campbell revealed a plan to allocate $1 billion from the retained NHT funds to assist young people under 35 with home deposits.
“We are going to ensure that every young person under the age of 35, when they apply for a house and they need to pay the deposit, they are going to get a grant of $500,000 from the NHT to go towards their deposit, so they can buy their house or build their house,” he said, noting the age limit could increase to 45 based on public demand.
He added that members of parliament will be tasked with identifying government-owned lands in their constituencies to facilitate low-income housing developments.
“We are going to build 50,000 low-income housing solutions, so that people can own something and build it out to [realise] their dream houses,” Campbell stated.