THE National Housing Trust (NHT) will next month start the construction of 834 houses for the Longville Development phase three costing $3.1 billion to become one of its largest projects.

The contractor M&M Jamaica was endorsed for the bulk of the contract valued at $2.7 billion last month, according to contracts published by the Office of the Contractor General. The NHT told the Business Observer that the total cost of this phase is $3.1 billion.

The NHT expects to begin the development in February and “the duration will be 24 months”, the NHT stated in a response to Business Observer queries.

Two-bedroom units are projected to be priced at $6.2 million; one bedroom for $5.1 million; studio for $3.5 million; serviced lots for $1.2 million.

The NHT was established in 1976 and is funded by statutory deductions from employers, employees and self-employed individuals. The trust is the largest provider of residential mortgages in Jamaica, with mortgage loans totalling $36 billion.

In September, the NHT committed to start construction on 12,000 houses over 18 months in six parishes at a total cost of $29 billion. Part of that included last month’s $2.3 billion worth of contracts awarded to Ashtrom Building Systems to provide 419 houses. In October, the NHT had contracted Foote Construction for $199 million to begin infrastructure and construction works for housing lots at Hampden Sugar Housing Development.

But other projects include: 288 lots at Hampden in Trelawny and 149 Stokes Hall in St Thomas; 746 houses now under construction at Union Estate; and 600 houses and 234 serviced lots at Longville Clarendon. At Perth in Manchester, 1,343 housing units and 257 serviced lots are planned for completion by September 2011. In St James, 148 serviced lots will be offered at Providence located near the upscale Ironshore community and at Bushy Park, Clarendon, 67 studios, one and two-bedroom houses will be constructed.

Under the Sugar Housing programme, the NHT will provide 402 serviced lots at Bernard Lodge in St Catherine, while at Frome in Westmoreland, 115 houses, consisting of 76 foundation-only starter units, are to be offered.

The scope of work for that contract includes the development of “roadways, storm water drains, a sewage collection and treatment system, a water supply distribution system, lot grading, a Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Pole Line distribution system and street lights, traffic signals and street names”, said the NHT. Upon completion, the serviced lots should cost approximately $900,000 for regular NHT contributors.