– for some 250 families from low income communities

NEXT year, some 2,500 citizens in low income communities will benefit from improved housing conditions whereby 250 families will receive free core homes while others will receive improved housing infrastructure.

The programme, Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme (AHUAP), is being made possible by the government through a US$30M loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

It is being executed by the Ministry of Communities through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA).

The programme commenced in 2018 and will run for five years, targeting communities in Georgetown; West Bank of Demerara; villages of Recht Door Zee, La Parfaite-Harmonie, Westminster; and Lust-en-Rust and Onderneeming.

It will also be implemented in South of Georgetown up to Diamond/Grove and to the East Coast of Demerara up to the village of La Bonne Intention.

To this regard, members of religious organisations and other community bodies were invited to attend an AHUAP stakeholder sensitisation meeting on Thursday at the Regency Suites Hotel.

There, CHPA Chief Executive Officer, Lelon Saul, explained the purpose of the programme.
“CHPA is mandated by law to provide housing solutions for the working class and, over the years, we have offered several solutions… it is recognised that those with little or no affordability are often overlooked. For this reason, the Government of Guyana through the Central Housing and Planning Authority will provide housing solutions,” Saul said.

He explained that the three major components of the programme are affordable and sustainable housing, consolidation of existing housing schemes and the implementation of support and institutional strengthening.

The first will result in the building of core homes and home improvement subsidies in a sum of US$10M.

Meanwhile, with many of the country’s housing areas plagued by poor infrastructure and services, the second aspect will result in US$16M being injected into this area, beginning in the Sophia/Cummings Lodge area.

This investment will go towards secondary road maintenance and rationalisation; climate ready drainage, street lighting, pedestrian parks and multi-purpose community facilities and more.

With the implementation of the support and institutional strengthening component, Local Democratic Organs (LDOs) will also benefit from training activities regarding the operation and maintenance of urban services.

“The Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme will bring significant benefit to citizens especially those living in project areas. I urge you to encourage citizens to support the programme and those who are eligible for subsidy, I ask you to encourage them to apply,” Saul said.

Several questions from the audience and presentations from Community Development Director, Gladwin Charles and Architect, Kurleighene Hinds, revealed other guidelines and specific details of the project.

REQUIREMENTS
To qualify for a core home, the applicant must demonstrate that he/she is living in a low standard building which does not meet habitable requirements or which structural condition justifies replacement.

Other selection procedures include persons coexisting with two or more nuclear families; living in an at-risk area prone to floods or other conditions and any other specific situations stipulated by the CPHA.

The applicant must also be the owner of the property holding either an Allocation Letter, Agreement of Sale, Transportation or a Certificate of Title to Land while completing full payment for the lot.

Core houses will have no less than 330 square feet and will be single-family homes constructed an estimated cost of US$20,000.

Its design is expandable and includes a sanitary block (septic tank, toilet and shower); kitchenette; living room; standard bedroom spaces; basic doors, windows, electrical wiring and water connections; a multi-purpose skink; concrete outer walls; concrete floor slab and wooden porch rail and stairs.

In addition, the CPHA will provide material and labour to construct the unit. Beneficiaries must contribute G$100,000 as equity share contribution and the CPHA provide the building plan which beneficiaries must obtain approval for at the relevant authority and pay associated cost for such.

HOME IMPROVEMENTS
Meanwhile, for home improvement, the selection procedure is the same as for core homes with the addition that the selected plots must be free from any illegal encumbrances or owner limitation and occupied by the owner.

The CHPA will provide materials to the beneficiary up to the value of G$500,000 while the beneficiary must provide all labour to implement the improvement works and other criteria.
They will be focused on basic improvement including repairs to roofs, walls, floors, expansion to address overcrowding, sanitation improvements, rainwater harvest, improvements to water units and other modifications for persons with disabilities.

The application process for both core houses and home improvements will be opened soon and notice of such will be widely disseminated to the media, LDOs and community groups.
Meanwhile, 30 per cent of the labour force needed to construct core homes is expected to come from within the communities to facilitate job opportunities.

Also, following queries from the audience, the CPHA confirmed that measures will be taken to guard against the resale of the houses by opportunistic individuals.