Christopher Burgess | A few pretty cottages won’t solve Jamaica’s housing crisis

The Government recently unveiled ‘cottage’ homes built by HAJ in the hills of St James and announced improved National Housing Trust (NHT) financing. While visually appealing and a welcome step, they don’t address the real crisis, Jamaica’s massive housing shortfall.

The NHT estimates an effective demand for 191,000 homes. Yet, only about 2,200 units have been built annually over the past decade, leaving tens of thousands still priced out of home-ownership and without affordable housing options.

JAMAICA NEEDS HOMES FOR ALL

Jamaica’s housing demand is rooted in urban growth, family preferences, and rural development needs. About 60 per cent of demand is concentrated in Kingston, St. Andrew, and St. Catherine, where limited stock faces growing pressure and rising prices.

Most Jamaicans prefer two- or three-bedroom homes, but about 60 per cent can only afford a 400-square-foot starter home or serviced lot, for less than $9 million. Successful projects like Duncan Hill in Trelawny and Belle Aire in St. Ann show starter homes work, with selling prices of $20 to $35 million.

With 80 per cent of rural demand for serviced lots, Jamaica urgently needs large-scale projects that support affordable expansions strategies. Government sponsored housing starting at $20 to $30 million does not address the housing problem and is more of a vanity project for politicians. Targeted affordable housing solutions are needed.

DECADES OF HOUSING PLANS AND POLICIES

Since 1962, most government housing programmes and policies have fallen short. The 1970s and 1990s saw peak production, near 8,000 to 10,000 units per year. Key initiatives include:

1. Portmore Land Development (1967–1975): A public-private partnership delivering 13,000 plus homes and infrastructure in a sub-division mastered by government.

2. Sites and Services Programme (1973–1982): A World Bank-backed initiative providing 4,700 plus serviced lots for low-income, self-help housing, resulting in communities like Nannyville and Catherine Hall.

3. National Housing Trust (1976–present): Provides below-market housing loans and increase supply. Since its inception, unit completions rose to 4,100 (in 2006) annually, but reduced to less than 1,600 (in 2023).

4. Greater Portmore Housing Development (1990–1999): Financed through the San José Accord, this 12,500-unit project remains the Caribbean’s largest housing development, using modern construction technology and local contractors.

5. Operation PRIDE (1994–present): Ongoing under HAJ, regularising informal settlements and delivering 30,000 plus serviced lots and housing units, plus 28,000 letters of possession.

6. Inner-City Housing Project (ICHP) (2004–2013): Initially planned for 5,000 homes, but reduced to 1,200 units by 2008.

7. Social Housing Programme (2021-): Constructed 300 plus homes for vulnerable groups.

Several housing policies have been introduced with limited success. The 1982 National Housing Policy and 1987 Shelter Sector Strategy sought more private sector involvement but struggled with funding. Vision 2030 (2007) emphasised strategic planning, yet delivery was slow. The 2019 draft Housing Policy set a target of 15,000 units per year, but delivered fewer than 2,300 each year. The 2023 Housing Plan aims to boost affordability and public-private partnerships. There is a wide gap that remains between demand and supply.

FROM PORTMORE TO PRIDE

Some housing strategies have worked, including:

1. Overlapping mass housing programmes boosts output. In the 1970s and 1990s, programmes like Portmore Land Development and Sites and Services Programmes, Operation PRIDE and the Greater Portmore Housing Development delivered 60,000 units or one-third of post-Independence housing.

2. Public-private partnerships (PPPs): Collaborations between the government and private entities are effective.

3. Affordability focus: Ensuring housing solutions cost less than $9 million range, for the low-income bracket, is crucial. The Greater Portmore quads, sold for less than $500,000 in the early 1990s is equivalent to $8.5 million today.

4. Innovative construction techniques: Modular construction improved cost-effectiveness. Portmore and Greater Portmore showcased local expertise.

5. International partnerships: Funding from entities like the World Bank and other International agreements were instrumental in addressing housing needs.

6. Mass regularisation initiatives: Operation PRIDE have improved land tenure security for over 58,000 families.

WHERE HOUSING POLICY WENT WRONG

Cutting urban renewal and regularisation projects, like the Inner-City Housing Project (ICHP) in 2009 and ignoring the planners’ recommendations for transit-oriented districts, shelved the housing needs of 60 per cent of the market. Meanwhile, using statutory housing funds to support speculators, with solutions that are out of reach of the low- and middle-income earners does not close the affordable housing gap.

The government has emphasised expensive middle-income and high-end units, and subsidised mortgages. The focus remains toward demand-side support. Without a change to supply-side support with accelerated approvals, large-scale developments, and land regularisation, the housing deficit will continue to grow. Nice houses are important. But without enough houses, prices will increase.

A HOUSE FOR ALL

Jamaica’s housing crisis needs coordinated supply-side action, guided by policies and programmes for mass production of affordable housing, rather than a few high-end cottage developments. Government must lead with solutions that offer not just pretty homes, but plenty homes.

Affordable housing must become the top priority for NHT. That means stopping the diversion of NHT funds. Public-private partnerships should be expanded to encourage developers to build large-scale, cost-effective housing projects.

Government owns over 135,000 acres of land, some of this should be used for affordable homes, rather than building on expensive limestone hills. High-density, low-cost housing near job centres and public transport must be part of the solution.

Quality and dignity in housing are important, as the government emphasises. But dignity also means access and affordability. Without more homes for working-class families and young professionals, more Jamaicans will migrate.

Christopher Burgess, PhD is a registered civil engineer, land developer and the managing director of CEAC Solutions Company Limited. He is currently a Jamaica Institution of Engineers council member. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com