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PM Holness encourages private sector to help build affordable houses

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Prime Minister Andrew Holness
By Halshane Burke    
 
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has again underscored the need for greater private sector involvement in the provision of housing solutions.
 
He says private sector investment in this area is critical to ensure that hard working people are able to afford their own homes. 
 
Mr. Holness said although the National Housing Trust (NHT) and Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) provide housing in that segment of the market, they will not be able to supply the number of "affordable and achievable" housing solutions that are needed. 
 
"We need a private sector to go into that segment of the market. We must get the prices down so that the bartenders, the hairdressers, the gardeners, the mechanics, those persons need houses too. We must get the prices down. I mean, there's so much I can do with moral suasion, but we have to get the interest rates aligned. We have to get the approvals and permitting process moving quickly. And we have to integrate technology because there are many new building methodologies now which can reduce costs," he reasoned. 
 
Mr. Holness said the government will be examining the option of providing lands for housing development, to reduce the cost of a house. 
 
"But for us to get to the next level of bringing the prices of housing down so that the average hardworking Jamaican who is contributing but can't get a benefit, can get a benefit, we will have to dig deep in our land bank and make lands available where the price of the land is considered to the total value of the house but subtracted from the total value of the house when the house is sold. So we have started to look at that. We are very much down the wicket and at the appropriate time, we'll make an announcement as to how this programme will be executed," he announced. 
 
The Prime Minister was speaking Wednesday at the grand opening of Sagicor's New Brunswick Village housing development in St. Catherine.
 


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