Next year, the State-run National Housing Trust (NHT) marks its 50th anniversary, a golden moment for an entity that has survived every government transmutation, reversal and fickleness, since its official birth in 1976.

We say official birth because the NHT saw its first light of day in 1975 — a little known fact — when it began taking contributions from employees and their employers towards the provision of homes for mostly vulnerable Jamaicans.

Shortly after it began operations, the NHT was paused, reportedly because the framework necessary to give it full legality was deemed inadequate. Contributors were then given the option of accepting cash refunds or allowing their money to remain for points towards their future homeownership.

Standing firm as an icon of the Michael Manley Administration of the 1970s, the Trust has defied the penchant of new governments to change either the name or nature of State institutions to give them their special stamp.

Indeed, each Government has had to turn to the Trust to bolster its economic programme. Recall, for example, the $4-billion ‘borrowed’ by the Portia Simpson Miller and Bruce Golding administrations.

As a cash-rich entity, the agency gains its superpower from not having to fend for itself and battle through the vicissitudes of financial markets, because of its ability to amass money through statutory deductions.

What tinkering governments have tended to do has mostly been about tweaking the spending programmes of the Trust, usually when elections are near, largely to offer sweeteners to the contributors, especially those at the lower end of the social spectrum.

One recent example has been the decision to reverse the policy that disallowed cash refunds to people with NHT mortgages. Now they are able to apply for these annual refunds, as long as they are not in arrears on said mortgage or loan.

As vital as the NHT is to Jamaicans, the Trust still has a lot of work to do in providing housing for those who need it most but can least afford it.

The average number of housing completions from 2018 to 2022 was 2,157 per annum, according to the 2022 Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica, against the need for an estimated 15,000 new housing units annually.

At the same time, by Finance Ministry statistics, the Trust collected $43 billion in income and spent $13 billion in operating expenses for the financial year ending 2024, showing that administrative costs amounted to, on average, about $6 million per unit completion.

In that light, it is noteworthy that NHT executive salaries appear generous. According to Trust figures, over 13 executives earn above $16 million each annually. The managing director pockets $34.2 million; the finance director – $22 million; the construction and development director – $21.6 million; the corporate services director – $22.1 million; and the senior general manager, customer relations – $22.79 million.

As the NHT plans the inevitable 50th anniversary celebrations, the Government might wish to consider another sweetener to contributors. The Trust makes annual refunds after eight years of receiving contributions. Why not make lump sum payments for all but the current years owed, meaning for the seven years in arrears, or as many years as would not jeopardise the financial security of the Trust?