THE Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) has partnered with National Housing Trust (NHT) to provide 100 per cent financing for all units to be built as part of its ongoing Catherine Estate housing development.

During the official ground-breaking ceremony which took place on June 17, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced the measure as part of the Government’s push to ensure all Jamaicans have access to home ownership. “With the resources available, the Government is ensuring that it can arrange things in such a way to ensure that we can continue on the path of prosperity. We are going to make sure that we save lives and livelihoods,” Holness said.

The prime minister said he considers home ownership for every Jamaican a critical part of his mandate. He said even as COVID-19 has caused a setback in the economy, the mandate of the HAJ remains to build affordable housing. The HAJ is a wholly owned and self-funded real estate development arm of the Government. The entity is tasked with the development, construction and sale of low- and middle-income homes.

Catherine Estates, which will provide 1,650 studio and one-bedroom units starting at $5.5 million each, will create an integrated and sustainable community for low-income families, first-time homeowners, and public sector workers/civil servants.

The development will be created in six phases of 14 clusters, with each cluster featuring essential amenities including modern infrastructure, grocery stores, recreational spaces and walking distance access to public transportation.

Commenting on the financing arrangement with the NHT, HAJ Managing Director Gary Howell noted, “The HAJ’s mandate is to provide well-structured and affordable homes for low and middle income-earning Jamaicans, and we are very serious about fulfilling this mandate. It was therefore natural that, given the price of the units, NHT would be utilised to provide funding to ensure that as many members of the target market can take advantage of what this development has to offer.”

HAJ Chairman Norman Brown also spoke at the function, reiterating the agency’s commitment to provide affordable housing for Jamaicans.

While applications are not yet being accepted, interested customers of the Catherine Estates development are required to have in place pre-approval documentation from their mortgage provider, and need to submit identification documents inclusive of NIS, TRN, birth certificate, and other forms of valid identification.