KINGSTON, Jamaica — Somewhere in Jamaica, a homeowner is already thinking about selling their property in 2027. Perhaps the children have grown and moved away. Perhaps retirement is approaching, an overseas opportunity is calling, or the family simply needs a different kind of home. For others, the decision is more complicated. Financial pressures, changing circumstances, rising maintenance costs and the…
Jamaica’s pandemic property boom opened doors for some buyers and created expensive commitments for others. Years later, the real measure of homeownership may be less about rising prices than the lives people can afford to lead.
Billions in insurance settlements, a deepening land ownership debate, expensive rebuilding decisions and an expanding north coast property market have exposed a difficult question: Is Jamaica building communities that ordinary Jamaicans can afford, maintain and call their own?
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica is building a new north coast. Thousands of homes are rising across St Mary, St Ann,…
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s property market is sending mixed signals. Buyers are gaining negotiating power in Kingston and St Andrew.…
From billion-dollar apartments overlooking Kingston Harbour to families being moved from vulnerable communities, a succession of housing announcements is exposing a deeper question about Jamaica’s future: Is the country simply building more properties, or creating places where ordinary Jamaicans can afford to belong?
Property Market
Jamaica has about a quarter of the cemetery land its own planning standard requires, and most Jamaicans are still buried rather than cremated. From HK$5 million niches to the grave in the family yard, an investigation into who owns the land of the dead.
Kingston was kept low by a 60 foot height cap after the 1907 earthquake and still has no building above 150 metres, while Panama City has more than 68. An investigation into who is building the capital upward, what a square foot costs, and whether the rules can keep pace.
US golf courses occupy land equal to four fifths of Jamaica, Hong Kong’s plan for 12,000 flats on one has been stopped in court, and Jamaica is moving to protect 128 acres of state leased fairway in Kingston as forest. An investigation into who owns the world’s golf land and what it is for.
Jamaica’s island wide passenger trains stopped in 1992, yet the Jamaica Railway Corporation was last reported to hold about 1,000 hectares of land. Around the world railways are among the biggest landowners on earth, and the most successful now run on property.
Mortgages & Money
Jamaica’s banks may be resilient, but that does not mean every mortgaged household is secure. An examination of arrears, property recovery, interest rates and the human cost of mortgage distress.
RENTING
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Somewhere in Jamaica, a mother is searching for a modest place to rent. She has a job. She has her deposit. She can…
Diaspora & Migration
Britain promised to put right the wrongs done to the Windrush generation. Seven years after compensation began, about a third of decided claims have produced a payment, at least 66 claimants have died waiting, and the Home Office is still marking its own homework. A full accounting of what happened, what didn’t, and what could have been done better.