NHT Has More Than 40,000 Homes in the Pipeline, Holness Says at St. Thomas Handover

ST. THOMAS, Jamaica — The National Housing Trust (NHT) has 40,637 housing units moving through its development pipeline, Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness said, as he handed over new homes to five families in St. Thomas under the Government’s social housing programme.

According to figures reported by the Jamaica Information Service, 8,353 of those units are under construction, 7,692 are at the contract award stage, 12,207 are in procurement and negotiation, and 10,598 are in planning and design.

Part of a 75,000-unit goal

The NHT is responsible for 43,000 units of the Government’s wider target of 75,000 housing solutions. Other contributions are expected from the Greater Bernard Lodge Development Project in St. Catherine, which is slated to deliver between 10,000 and 15,000 units, and from the Housing Agency of Jamaica, with between 8,000 and 14,000.

Five St. Thomas families receive keys

At the June 19 ceremony, homes built under the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP) were presented to Sayde Dawson, Sandrarie Sutherland, Jennifer Phillips, Shirley Bennett and Gloria Dacres. The NSHP targets Jamaicans in especially vulnerable circumstances, including persons with disabilities, survivors of domestic abuse and families who have lost their homes to fire.

So far, 293 houses have been completed under the programme, 43 are being built and close to 60 more are in planning. Dr. Holness described the NSHP as an expression of the country’s conscience, arguing that no Jamaican should have to live in substandard conditions.

What it means for buyers

The pipeline numbers are large, but only about a fifth of the units are physically under construction; the rest are still being contracted, negotiated or designed, and schemes at those stages can take years to reach the market. First-time buyers relying on NHT schemes should track projects in the parishes where they want to live, keep their contributions and records in order, and be ready to apply as soon as allocations open. For private developers and investors, a steady flow of NHT-backed supply at the affordable end of the market is likely to keep pressure on pricing in that segment, while demand for mid-market and rental housing remains strong.

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