BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) says it is now revising its “Housing Sector Policy and Strategy” so as to better assist regional countries deal with their housing problems, particularly for low and lower middle-income segments of the population.

The CDB said that recent studies suggest that the housing deficit in Latin America and the Caribbean stands at between 42 and 51 million units in a region that is estimated to grow to 160 million households by 2020. 

“This unmet demand, compounded by changing settlement patterns, has resulted in insufficient housing provision, as evidenced by informal settlements, particularly in urban areas,” the CDB added.

It said that although data on housing in Caribbean countries are not readily available, surveys of living conditions suggest that significant pockets of substandard housing still exist, especially among lower quintiles of the population.

The CDB said that one step towards the revised policy was a recent workshop held here last month, the basis of which  was two studies it commissioned that separately assessed, CDB’s involvement in the housing sector and work being undertaken by selected borrowing member countries (BMC).

The CDB said the workshop discussed the findings of these two studies as well as a presentation on the challenges, opportunities and successes of affordable housing solutions for low income households and provided an opportunity for participants to exchange views and experiences on the housing sector in their respective countries.

“Since 1990, CDB has provided over US$160 million in loans and grants to 12 BMCs in support of various initiatives in the housing sector.

“Traditionally, interventions have been geared towards home ownership, including the provision of mortgage finance through financial intermediaries,  improvements in housing stock, upgrading and regularising informal settlements and providing sites and services,” said the Bank’s Director of Projects, Michelle Cross Fenty.

She warned that without the necessary enabling environment in place, the actual construction of housing units will not have the desired maximum social, economic and environmental development impacts. “Therefore, in order to maximize the impact of our interventions, and to facilitate an appropriate, holistic response to the…housing challenges, establishment of an enabling environment has become a critical consideration for the Bank,” Cross Fenty said.