Home developers urged to invest more in renewables
MINISTER OF Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator Aubyn Hill, yesterday urged housing developers to invest more i n affixing renewable energy resources to better accommodate potential homeowners in Jamaica.
Hill’s call came during the RE/ MAX Jamaica Powerbrokers Coffee Break, a precursor to the RE/MAX Jamaica Premier Real Estate Conference and Expo to be held from April 14-16 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
The minister believes it would be of great benefit to all stakeholders if renewable energy infrastructure is installed by the developers and rolled into the buyers’ mortgages as opposed to independently sourced by owners.
“I really believe renewable water and renewable solar energy, maybe wind in some cases, must be a part of the build-out. I say that so the financiers, banks, can wrap that investment into the mortgage,” Hill told the gathering of real estate, financial experts, and sponsors.
“If it keeps being separated from the mortgage, where are people going to find that 1.5 or two million dollars more? “he asked. “But if you put it into a 30-year mortgage, buyers won’t even feel it, and it only becomes a couple extra dollars more. It is something that you in this business should be lobbying for. I haven’t got a letter from you guys asking why can’t we do this.”
“Politics work because you agitate for what you want, albeit peacefully, please,” Hill said to applause from the gathering. He said providing those renewable energy resources would help the consumer over the long term and also make investment in certain developments more attractive.
It would also be a ‘win-win’ for financiers such as banks and housing trusts, which, he said, also benefit as the quality and security of their investment increase. These are the types of ideas that Hill said his ministry, the country’s “business ministry” , is bent on providing to the public.
Lauding the Government for building more than 15,000 houses in recent years, Hill told the group that Jamaica’s economic programme and the change it has brought has been under-recognised and called for an increase in land surveyors on the island to meet the demands and Government’s push to address land settlement and title regularisation islandwide.
GOV’T INTERVENTION
Yesterday, while RE/MAX’s director of growth and expansion, O’Neil Kirlew, applauded Hill’s suggestion that newly constructed homes be affixed with renewable infrastructure, he said it is an initiative that would require heavy government intervention, especially regarding importing the needed items.
“It would require the Government giving more incentives for the normal man to afford it. It is not just we going to an institution. They are going to look at whether you are creditworthy, yes or no,” he said. “So it is really how the Government can work with importers or the manufacturers to ensure those prices come down. I think it has to start there.”
“Yes, the prices have come down on renewables, but it is not where it should be for a normal man to afford it. Yes, you can always go to the financial institutions and tell them to put it on top of the loan, but again, it comes right back to affordability,” argued Kirlew, adding that in addition to the Government, there is also a role for the private sector in the renewable-energy push.
Kirlew said that while RE/ MAX and other players could lobby developers to build out renewable energy infrastructure, again, ultimately, it comes down to affordability and how much more they can charge for it.
Even better than importing the renewable infrastructure is to manufacture them locally, he proposed, noting that while some local companies have started, their production is nowhere near enough for the island’s demands.
STEADY GROWTH
The coming expo, the first of its kind, will also be held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel and will feature several players in the real estate industry, from developers to financial institutions. It is dubbed a catalyst for great things to come for Jamaica’s real estate industry.
Roger Williams, interim group CEO of Spectrum Group, whose company acquired RE/MAX, explained that Jamaica’s real estate market is on a steady growth projection following the recent debilitating COVID-19 pandemic.
“The recent trends in the market reflect not just the economic shifts, but also the aspirations and dreams of the people participating in the sector. After a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand in virtually all segments of the real estate market resumed the growth projection it was on prior to the pandemic,” he said.
“The dream of owning your own home is a universal one, and in Jamaica, it is no different. Most of us want to live in a place that is safe, comfortable, and convenient, and most of us want to own that place,” added Williams as he explained the biggest driving factor for Jamaica’s real estate industry.