Build houses for NHT contributors, not squatters

THE EDITOR, Sir:

WHY IS it made so simple for squatters to have easy access to housing, while persons working below the threshold aren’t able to purchase a home They can’t purchase a home because (1) their take-home pay isn’t sufficient to save towards owning a home; (2) they are unable to qualify for a loan because their salaries are too small; or (3) they are not able to receive adequate funds needed in purchasing a home.

It’s as if everywhere these hard-working persons turn with the little that they labour for, they run into a dead end. Tell me why the houses being built in Upper St Andrew under the National Housing Trust project is going to be providing 100 per cent financing to home loans? Who’s going to benefit from that 100 per cent financing for such upscale apartment housing?

Certainly not the workers below the threshold: the entry clerks, the office attendants, the garbage collectors, the supermarket workers, etc. They are left to pay hefty rent while squatters get to walk into a brand new home, free of labour or contribution (on a larger scale).

What about the poor who aren’t being financed fully and have to bear the thought of finding opening and closing costs, as well as other administrative expenses?

Helping squatters could very well discourage those working so hard to keep their head above water.