Kristen Gyles | The housing crisis

A problem has been brewing for many years now that has managed to chase many Jamaicans off the island in search of a better life elsewhere. It’s the housing crisis.

It is estimated that of the almost three million people in Jamaica, roughly 25 per cent live in Kingston and St Andrew (which we will call ‘Kingston’ for short), which makes for a highly congested, over-commercialised, exhaust fumes-infested city. But more germane to this discussion is the fact that the demand for housing in Kingston has been driving house prices higher and higher and certainly at a faster rate than the growth of the salaries that typical Jamaicans rely on to save towards home ownership.

To fix the problem, one would think people would simply stop migrating to Kingston. However, that can’t happen when the bulk of employment opportunities are situated in the city. Added to that, most employers seem to have a strong resistance towards employing staff on a remote basis. Employees who work in Kingston must therefore either find residence in Kingston (or its similarly congested environs) or take the long arduous trek from the country into Kingston daily for work.

NOT PRACTICAL

This is just not practical. For one, depending on how far ‘country’ actually is, this might mean excessive transportation costs that nullify the cost savings associated with living out-of-town. On the other hand, whether or not one can afford to pay toll daily, refill their car’s gas tank six times for the month or take three or four public vehicles to get to work, copious numbers of hours are wasted each week on transportation, in these situations.

Further, after sitting in traffic for nearly two hours to get to work or school every morning, one simply does not arrive feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to take on the exciting day ahead.

A few years ago while working as a teacher in one of our local high schools, I had a student who consistently slept while class was in session. When I eventually met with the child’s mother she explained that the family lives out of town and the child has to get up very early each morning in order to be on time for school. This was the reason she was always tired. What can a teacher say in a situation like this?

The point here is that having to travel long distances to and from school or work daily significantly limits productivity. That point is important in establishing that although Jamaicans have the option of purchasing (more) affordable homes in rural areas, it is simply not feasible for the average Jamaican to do so. Jamaicans do not want to travel two hours to and from work every day. They also don’t want to have limited access to banks and working ATMs, convenience stores, pharmacies, leisure spots and so on. But what will they have to pay in order to live within reasonable travelling distance of their work?

STRAIGHT UP TO RETIREMENT

Earlier this year, I saw an old studio in the heart of Kingston being advertised for sale for $18 million. For those who don’t know, a studio is an all-in-one dwelling that combines the kitchen, living room and the bedroom area in one space. The property was less than 500 square feet. With the use of one’s $7.5 million low-interest NHT loan benefit, a 28-year-old would need to be earning a gross salary of roughly $4 million to qualify for a loan from any of the local banks to cover the remainder of the cost of the property – and this is assuming a payback period that goes straight up to retirement.

To go further, what happens to the not-so-young professional who has already started his or her own family and wants to purchase a home? Hopefully, such an individual would have partnered with someone who can meet them halfway in their efforts towards purchasing a home. That will help. But even with the best of efforts from their spouse, they may struggle to get financing for the purchase of a three- or four-bedroom home in a central location. A cursory glance at one real estate agency’s website reveals that Kingston is laden with $30-plus million properties that are barely large enough to shelter a couple and a small child. How many people can truly afford these properties?

Another hard pill to swallow is that one who chooses to remain single is significantly hampered in their efforts to achieve home ownership. Unless two or more people pool their resources together, purchasing a home in a residential area in Kingston is difficult – certainly for individuals who fall outside the top percentile of income earners. Even then, time waits on no man and neither do house prices. Some heavily recycled places of residence that have had multiple owners since construction many moons ago are being resold in 2024 at double the price they were being sold for 10 years ago.

What is the solution here? A good place to start would be to address the congestion in Kingston. For the good of the country, we need to find a way to extend our penchant for development to the other parishes. It would only take a few trendsetters to kick-start business in some untapped areas across the island. Further, remote work is something to embrace. Employees are able to spend more time working when they are not spending two hours every day seated in traffic and they are better able to manage their lives on a whole when they have the latitude to work remotely. Let’s decongest Kingston.

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Send feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com