Cheap Homes, Expensive Living

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica may be building more affordable homes, but the real cost of housing does not stop at the front door.

For thousands of working Jamaicans, where a house is built can matter almost as much as what it costs.

That issue is becoming increasingly important in St James, where major housing developments are expanding around the wider Montego Bay area while employment remains heavily concentrated around the city and the north coast tourism belt.

The National Housing Trust currently lists several developments across St James, including 1,565 solutions at Barrett Hall, 403 at Brookside Estate in Spot Valley, 401 at The Estuary Phase 2 and additional projects at Canterbury, Adelphi, Comfort and Union Acres.

Barrett Hall alone occupies hundreds of acres and was deliberately positioned within reach of the north coast tourism corridor, where thousands of Jamaicans work in hotels, attractions, retail, transportation and supporting industries.

Dean Jones of Jamaica Homes says that connection needs to become central to the way Jamaica thinks about affordable housing.

“Affordable housing cannot simply mean finding cheaper land further and further away from where people actually work,” Jones said. “If the mortgage is lower but the family is spending significantly more on petrol, taxis, buses and hours of travelling every week, that home is not necessarily affordable.”

The issue extends beyond transport.

Montego Bay continues to face infrastructure pressures as development spreads. A government drainage study completed this year identified long standing flooding risks and potential interventions for the city, including Catherine Hall.

New housing therefore has to be supported by roads, drainage, water, sewage, schools, shops and reliable transport rather than treated simply as another collection of units.

“We have to start measuring the cost of living somewhere, not just the cost of buying there,” Jones said. “A truly affordable community gives people reasonable access to employment, schools, healthcare, transport and everyday services.”

Some existing St James developments already illustrate that thinking. Union Acres, for example, is less than seven kilometres from Montego Bay town centre and includes roads, sidewalks, storm water drainage, potable water, electricity and sewage infrastructure.

Jones said Jamaica now needs more of that joined up approach.

“Putting up houses is the easy part of the conversation,” he said. “The harder question is whether we are building communities where people can actually afford to live.”

With thousands more housing solutions planned across Jamaica, that distinction matters.

A cheaper house can still produce an expensive life.

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