MANAGING director of the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) Gary Howell says that the agency is ensuring that only deserving beneficiaries can access low-income homes.

“We try to ensure that persons who are benefiting from these low-income housing units are first-time homeowners, so we primarily utilise persons with National Housing Trust (NHT) benefits. We know NHT has a stringent system, which ensures that once you obtain your benefit you cannot get another NHT mortgage,” he noted.

“What we don’t want is a situation where because persons have the money they buy more than one of the units cash and then capitalise on it by later reselling it at a significant price. This results in persons who were really in need not getting the opportunity to purchase a unit at the initial price,” he pointed out.

Qualified NHT contributors are eligible to apply for a loan to build, buy or repair/improve their home.

Currently, an NHT contributor can be granted a maximum loan of $6.5 million.