HDC to earn $900M

Housing Minister Randall Mitchell made the revenue announcement during a key distribution ceremony yesterday at Omardeen’s School of Accountancy, Cipero Street, San Fernando.

Addressing the 62 new home owners — persons received keys to homes in Moruga, Point Fortin, Princes Town and Chaguanas — Mitchell encouraged them to convert their Licence To Occupy and Rent-to-Own arrangements to mortgages in the shortest time possible.

“When you convert to mortgages, those arrangements allow for a revenue stream to be made available to the HDC that allows it to invest into more developments for the benefit of the national community,” Mitchell explained.

He added the ministry supports the HDC’s initiative to close mortgages and thus far, we have seen this drive yielding upwards of 529 mortgage conversions.

“It is estimated that $900 million will be realised over the next three years; a substantial amount which will help us to increase our national housing stock.” In addition to increasing the housing stock, the ministry is pursuing initiatives to improve existing housing stock nationwide.

Hence the disbursement of 753 home improvement grants at a cost of $11.3 million to persons wishing to conduct much needed repairs and upgrades to existing homes.

Mitchell said, “this should reduce, to some degree, the demand placed for new HDC homes.

Some 351 persons also received home improvement subsidies this year, a 34 percent increase over the 2015 fiscal period under the former administration.” The ministry also allocated subsidies to 385 persons to assist with new construction facilitated by an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Loan Agreement.

Mitchell said this represented a 100 percent increase over 2015.

He lamented that these programmes had been “under threat of closure by the IDB due to under- activity and in some cases, non-activity,” during the previous administration.

Mitchell assured however they “are now active and have been providing much needed assistance to those in need.” There was good news too for persons who don’t own a home of their own. Mitchell said housing projects that were incomplete when the People’s National Movement came into office in September 2015 “are now near to completion (and) will be ready within the next few months.” The minister was referring to HDC developments in Diego Martin, San Fernando, Carlsen Field and Point Fortin.