NHT’s $3.5 Million Home Grant Aims to Level the Field for Lowest-Paid Contributors

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaicans at the bottom of the wage scale who have paid into the National Housing Trust (NHT) for at least seven years could receive up to $3.5 million towards a home that they never have to pay back, the agency says.

Dwayne Berbick, the NHT’s assistant general manager for corporate communication and public affairs, outlined the Home Grant in a radio interview on July 12. The grant, which rose from $2.5 million to $3.5 million under policy changes that took effect on July 1, is aimed at contributors earning $15,000 or less per week.

Who qualifies

According to the NHT, applicants must:

• have contributed to the Trust for at least seven years;
• earn $15,000 or less a week;
• not already own a home; and
• not have received an NHT loan before.

Up to three eligible contributors may apply together. The money can be put towards buying land or a house, or towards construction, and is used alongside the contributor’s NHT loan.

Closing the affordability gap

Mr Berbick explained that contributors on the lowest incomes typically qualify for loans of around $3 million on their own. Adding the grant, he said, lifts their buying power close to the $7.5 million general loan ceiling that became available to other contributors on July 1, after the NHT raised its limit from $6.5 million.

The July changes also included an online upgrade intended to speed up the issuing of eligibility letters, part of a broader effort by the Trust to make its loan process quicker.

For low-income workers who have long assumed homeownership is out of reach, the grant can be decisive, particularly because it does not add to monthly repayments. Eligible contributors should first confirm their contribution history and obtain an eligibility letter, then look for serviced lots or modestly priced units that fit a combined grant-and-loan budget. Family members who each qualify may find that applying jointly widens their options. Developers building lower-cost units, meanwhile, may see a deeper pool of buyers able to close on purchases at the more affordable end of the market.

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