Don’t sit and wait on the NHT
Dear Editor,
On December 24, 2020 the Jamaica Observer published a letter in which the writer, Klamar Wint, bemoaned the fact that the National Housing Trust (NHT) was not giving young people a fair chance at becoming homeowners.
The objective of my response is neither to defend the NHT nor to weigh the validity of the writer’s arguments. My aim is to point out alternatives. It seems as if most people in urban areas just wait for the next NHT scheme. This is a waste of valuable time.
Let it be known that neither the NHT nor the Housing Agency of Jamaica builds enough houses per annum. Furthermore, private developers are quite likely not going to build houses where the demand is greatest — $12 million to $15 million range. The 4,500 housing solutions, even 8,000 per annum, is simply not going to cut it.
My advice to young people: Don’t sit and wait on the NHT! There are other solutions.
The first solution is to acquire land on the open market. This piece of land might be a little distance outside of your urban area, but this is only a relatively minor inconvenience. It is always good to acquire land. Land appreciates in value. There are not enough applications for ‘Build On Own Land’ loans. I believe that these are usually under 1,000 per annum.
A second solution is to seek a house on the open market. This might be an older house that is less expensive than your new NHT house. It may even be a fixer-upper. It may be on a larger lot than the NHT house.
A third possibility is acquiring property (lot or house) by private treaty. There are challenges here, especially in the case of a house which is occupied by tenants or the defaulting owners. Please note that it is the responsibility of the purchaser to get the occupants out of the house. An unoccupied house that is up for sale by private treaty is usually a godsend.
There are quite likely other possibilities, but I have given three important alternatives. It is easy to sit and wait on the scheme house. That takes relatively little effort, but I have found that serious property search is like a part-time job. You have to be at it every week, every other day, every day.
Get off the couch, get off social media, and start hunting the newspapers, realtors’ websites, etc.
Don’t neglect reading real estate articles, including the NHT’s website, so as not to blunder in your search.
Happy hunting!
Norman W M Thompson
norms74160@gmail.com
