The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A CABINET minister yesterday said there is a 2,535 annual shortfall between housing demand and the number of new homes being constructed.

Jobeth Coleby-Davis, minister for housing and transport, unveiling the Government’s ‘A Place to Call Home’ rent-to-own initiative in the House of Assembly, said an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report from 2016 said 3,600 new homes or housing repairs were needed annually to meet the Bahamian population’s housing needs.

This represented a significant increase on the 1,777 annual new home construction estimate contained in a 1984 study performed for the then-Ministry of Housing and National Insurance. However, Mrs Coleby-Davis said the pace of residential housing construction has failed to keep pace with both these forecasts and demand.

She drew on Central Bank of The Bahamas’ data for the period between 2012 and 2020 - which showed that on average 1,065 annual residential construction permits are being issued - to come up with the 2,535 new housing starts “deficit”.

Over almost the same period, Mrs Coleby-Davis said average monthly mortgage payments by Bahamians have risen from $1,187 in 2012 to $1,907 in 2021. This represents a $720 per month increase in just nine years. “A glaring observation is that the average monthly mortgage payment exceeds the monthly earnings of many low and middle income earning Bahamians,” she added.

“Further, of the over $2bn outstanding in consumer debt, over $800m is categorised as debt consolidation - a further indication of the financial strain on low and middle income earners.” As a result, Mrs Coleby-Davis said the main challenges are “a shortage of affordable housing and personal financial challenges that impede many Bahamians”.

She added that the Department of Housing is “currently reviewing over 1,200 active applications for housing. Each customer service representative at the Department is currently managing over 350 applications. These applications are from all segments of Bahamian society and include teachers, nurses, police officers, hospitality workers and bankers, to name a few”.

The ‘A Place To Call Home’ rent-to-own initiative is being launched under the Housing Act, which allows the Government to sell, lease, exchange or otherwise dispose of real or personal property acquired under that law.

Mrs Coleby-Davis said: “‘A Place To Call Home’ is designed for working Bahamians. It is a multi-island, sustainable, financially viable housing solution administered by the Department of Housing with oversight provided by an advisory committee comprised of qualified and experienced Bahamian professionals from the public and private sector.”

‘A Place to Call Home’ will be launched in Abaco through five units in Spring City, and will be extended to Cat Island, Exuma and North Andros during this initial phase.