Cost, build time of social housing units slashed
THE GOVERNMENT is reducing the construction time and cost to deliver units under the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP), says Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
Holness, who was speaking at the handover of a two-bedroom unit in Hermitage, St Andrew, on May 6, said this is very important as when less time is taken to build the houses, it means that prices will be lower and more persons will benefit from the programme.
He noted that the house at Hermitage was built for just under $5.5 million and that the unit was delivered within six weeks.
The prime minister said that this was really a good price given the costs of materials and labour.
“We are getting better at bringing to market houses that are affordable for persons with low income, and we need more contractors who are willing to put in place the management processes to deliver these homes in a shorter period of time, which, inevitably, means at a lower cost,” Holness told the audience.
The NSHP, which operates under the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment Programme (HOPE), through the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, is geared at improving the housing conditions of the country’s most needy population.
He reported that the programme, which came into operation in 2018, has delivered 64 units to beneficiaries. Fifty-five are under construction, and 84 are at various stages from approval to procurement.
The NSHP consists of three modalities: t he provision of indigent housing; relocation of vulnerable communities, which gives priority to persons in imminent danger; and the upgrading of tenement yards.