Almost a year after the National Housing Trust (NHT) loan limit was doubled to $3 million, the Government is considering increasing the benefit to at least $5 million, a highly placed Government source has confirmed.

According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Jamaica House has already informed the NHT of the pending increase which, it is expected, will be announced by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller when she makes her budget presentation next month and which political analysts expect she will use to enhance the Government’s chances in upcoming general elections.

Yesterday, when the Observer contacted Hugh Reid, NHT senior director of finance, for a response, he was non-committal, saying he could make no comment on the matter.

“The procedure is that any such change in policy would first have to go to the Office of the Prime Minister, which is responsible for the NHT, at which time the Prime Minister’s Office would make the announcement,” said Reid.

NHT Managing Director Earl Samuels was unavailable for comment as he was said to be out of office until tomorrow.

Prime Minister Simpson Miller has portfolio responsibility for the NHT and all policy decisions of the Trust are directed from Jamaica House.

A check with the Office of the Prime Minister for a comment proved unsuccessful, as up to press time no one was able to speak on the issue.

Last December at an NHT 30th anniversary function at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Simpson Miller had announced that she would be pursuing policy change that would allow young professionals to be able to own a home in Jamaica.

“If we are going to keep young professionals here, we have to provide housing that is both suitable and affordable to them,” she said then.

She did not elaborate.

The prime minister had also called on the NHT managers to place special emphasis on minimum wage earners.

“I want to be able to take something to Cabinet shortly after your retreat next month,” Simpson Miller told senior managers of the Trust in December. “The time has come to pay particular attention to the poor, oppressed and dispossessed.”

Since the NHT loan limit was increased to $3 million last year April, real estate experts have argued that the hike does not make it easier for contributors to access mortgages.

At the present $3 million, contributors must be earning a minimum of $15,800 per week in order to qualify for the maximum loan, a fact which analysts say effectively marginalises a huge section of the Jamaican workforce.

Real estate analysts also say that increases in the NHT loan limit have the effect of driving up real estate prices, thereby making it difficult for contributors to purchase homes.

The only effective change, some analysts contend, is an adjustment in the debt service ratio. But Samuels has consistently argued against such a change, saying that it would reduce the compliance rate.

However, yesterday, Lenworth Tracey of FirstCaribbean Building Society said that the move could affect the market positively in the long term as the resulting increase in demand would force suppliers to increase the housing stock. The impact, he said, would be greater on the relationship between mortgage providers.

“I see it impacting more on the relationship between the providers of financing and how we operate in the market,” said Tracey.

Under the current NHT arrangement, two contributors to the fund can co-sign on a single application to secure up to $6 million in mortgage from the low-interest housing agency.

Beneficiaries earning $5,000 per week are charged two per cent interest on their loan. Contributors earning up to $20,000 per week pay seven per cent, and those earning over $20,000 per week, eight per cent.