Under the Government’s new model for housing, the construction of 5,000 apartments/duplexes with infrastructural work for low income households will cost $50b, according to the CH&PA.
In a statement today, Chairman of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Hamilton Green expanded on the APNU+AFC government’s plan to move to housing units with full infrastructure as opposed to the previous PPP/C administration’s provision of serviced lots.
He contended that the current administration inherited an “overly ambitious programme” from the PPP/C government that sought to provide a serviced houselot to anyone desirous of acquiring one and later developed into the provision of turnkey units.
Many housing areas were developed amounting to a total of 66,124 lots, Green said but he pointed out that to date 28,220 (45%) of those lots that were divested are still unoccupied. Moreover, during the 2011-2015 period, 38 housing areas were developed which yielded 20,015 lots but 16,273 of these remain unoccupied, representing more than 80%.
“When this scenario takes account of a projected $60 billion that is needed to complete the 380 housing and regularized squatting areas that were under intervention during the last 20 years, it shows that his approach was unsustainable. The question can be asked as to why the programme continued along the same path and still there is a backlog of 25,000 applicants in the system”, Green stated.
The Chairman said that the current administration has recognized that the PPP/C model was not working and it was more of just land divestment rather than seeking to improve quality of life, as numerous housing areas are still plagued with incomplete and inadequate infrastructure and lack of the necessary social facilities and services.
“In light of these challenges, households were burdened with the prospect of accessing financing and the challenges associated with undertaking their own construction”, Green said.
Considering these facts, Green said the Administration has conceptualized a new model to improve the housing delivery system to address the backlog of 25,000 applicants, particularly the 17,851 who can be classified as low income households.
“This new model seeks to move beyond the provision of serviced lots to create livable and wholesome communities through the provision of full infrastructure; the necessary social facilities and services and the supply of housing units. The new model will also address the issue of reduction in infrastructure cost, since it seeks to increase density”, the Chairman contended.
The programme also promotes inclusivity, Green posited as it focuses on improving the living conditions of both coastal dwellers and hinterland Indigenous households. It also includes an urban renewal component to restore and beautify open spaces/reserves through the relocation and re-settlement of squatters living under unsafe conditions to wholesome communities.
Green disclosed that the projected cost of construction of approximately 50% of the 10,000 needed housing units (apartments and duplexes) inclusive of infrastructural works is $50 billion (US$250 million). To this must be factored-in the $60 billion needed for completion of infrastructure in existing schemes, he said.
