KINGSTON, Jamaica – Luther Buchanan, the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) spokesman on housing and rural development, has commended the Caribbean Policy Research Institute’s (CaPRI) assessment of the National Housing Trust (NHT).

However, he is cautioning against some of the recommendations put forward by the institution.

CaPRI has recommended that the NHT reduces required employer contributions from the current five per cent to two per cent of wages, while eliminating contributions from employees. CaPRI has also recommended that NHT considers facilitating rental housing which would help to address the housing shortfall, especially for low-income earners.

However, while expressing general appreciation for the effort, Buchanan said in a news release that the Opposition could not support these key recommendations arising from the research.

“While we agree that the present operations of the NHT disproportionately benefits the higher income contributors, and this remains an untenable situation, the solution is not for the NHT to relinquish housing construction, nor should it improve the rental market, solely as an end in itself, if that does not in some way provide a path to home ownership,” Buchanan said. “It is our fundamental belief that home ownership is one method of creating wealth and eliminating inter-generational poverty. That is at the core of why the PNP saw to the establishment of the NHT.”

He said the study comes at a time when “we have absolutely no choice but to rethink our approach to housing solutions in Jamaica, particularly for our lower income wage earners and middle class, which include many young professionals.

“We have a chronic housing shortage in Jamaica which has contributed to the rapid proliferation of informal settlements across the country, and the attendant social ills which accompany them. This is the plight of our vulnerable and working class Jamaicans,” Buchanan added.

Equally, he said the PNP does not support the view that the NHT has enough resources to carry out its mandate, and therefore does not support the proposal to eliminate and reduce the contributions of the employee and employer, respectively.

“The fundamental flaw of this recommendation is that it arose directly from an assessment of the level of contribution required to fund the NHT’s current programme. Jamaica has a housing deficit, which will require approximately 15,000 units to be built per year by 2030 – this will require an increase of the average formal production of 4,500 units per annum, and informal production of 5,700 over the past 20 years.

“Therefore, to assess NHT’s funding needs based on its current programme is to tinker with the housing problem, and sustain this perennial housing crisis. A massive ramping up of housing construction is what is therefore required.

Instead, the Opposition supports widening the rental market with a policy mix that provides a path to ownership, in some instances. In addition, the Opposition is of the view that the NHT should deepen the relationship with the Housing Agency of Jamaica, and provide funding directly for the provision of affordable housing,” said Mr. Buchanan.

He said it is “dangerous” to simply accept that some people will never be able to own a home in Jamaica, and simply relegate them to the ranks of “lifetime renters”.

“We must inspire Jamaicans to dream, and help them to fulfil their dreams of home ownership. It is time for a rethink in our approach and to engage more innovative solutions, and CaPRI must be commended for stimulating and enriching that conversation; but we cannot leave the supply side of the housing market solely to the private sector. Access to housing is an issue of social justice. It is too important an issue, and we know that the market is not the hand of God that never errs,” he said.