Gov’t to take measures to reduce costs at Greater Bernard Lodge, says PM Holness
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, has indicated that the government intends to absorb the land impact fee associated with the construction of 15,000 new housing solutions in the Greater Bernard Lodge Development Area of St Catherine.
Holness made the disclosure while addressing the National Housing Trust’s (NHT) 2022 Board of Directors Retreat on Friday held at the ROK Hotel, downtown Kingston.
He stated that the impact fee is typically a one-time payment imposed by a local government on a property developer, in which the NHT is undertaking the housing development at Bernard Lodge in partnership with the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ).
“With these 100 acres that are going to be assigned, the Government will pay the impact fee that comes with the land. We will not pass that cost on, so the cost of the houses should come down,” Holness said.
“I will [speak] to the minister of finance about getting the resources in place… to pay that impact fee and to get that project going,” he added.
Holness noted that the lower price will make the units more affordable for low-income earners, including persons occupying lands adjoining the Clifton community, which have been designated for agriculture.
He also noted that NHT will be directed to place these 100 acres at Bernard Lodge on a fast track.
“For those persons, who are affected… we are looking at options where we can make the cost of the housing low by virtue of the Government making budgetary allocation to absorb these preliminary development costs,” he said.
“So, the cost of the final product to you is low but you would only be able to access this based on your income,” he added.
In addition, Holness said that collaboration among the NHT, HAJ and the private sector is critical in facilitating the development of affordable housing solutions.
The NHT has committed to providing approximately 43,000 of the 70,000 housing solutions being targeted for development by the government.
In addition, under the Greater Bernard Lodge Development, which spans a total of 5,397.02 acres, housing and agriculture will be equally prioritised, with 15,000 to 16,000 housing solutions programmed for construction and approximately 1,300 acres of land reserved for small and medium-sized farmers.
The development will also see the improvement of several areas of infrastructure, including the provision of potable water, sewage, waste management, and drainage, road rehabilitation in Greater Portmore, aquifer protection, and regularisation of agricultural lots.