— CH&PA moves to address huge backlog of applications

SOME 28,000 unoccupied house lots, owned by persons across the country, are being scrutinised by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).

A senior official of the Authority on Monday shared this information with applicants who enquired about the status of their application for a house lot.

It was explained that there are no available house lots in any part of the country and the CH&PA is looking for ways to create spaces in order to address the backlog of about 25,000 applications.

The senior official indicated that the lots which are under scrutiny are owned by persons who do not utilise them, did not complete their payments or did not make any payment for the land.

And, if their effort to reclaim some of the lots is a success, the backlog will be addressed “immediately” and persons who have applications in the system from as long as the 1990s will be able to acquire a lot.

Although that might seem to ease the scarcity of house lots, Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Valarie Adams-Patterson told the Guyana Chronicle that there will always be a shortage of spaces to accommodate persons.

With the minimum age being changed from 21 years old to 18 years old, more and more applications are being received on a daily basis.

But, an alternative is in the pipeline, which will see the construction of apartment buildings, duplexes and condominiums across the country.

“We have decided that with the land that we have, we can accommodate more families if we provide housing units instead of a house lot, especially given that only about 55 per cent of lots allocated has been occupied,” said the minister.

Persons will have an opportunity to see what the duplexes and other buildings at the upcoming Housing Expo in May at Perseverance, East Bank Demerara.

“Whatever barriers there are, we are going to move them. Whatever policy changes need to be made, we are going to make (them), because we cannot continue to have people filing applications and their applications are not being processed. The bottom line is (that the backlog) has to be cleared, and quickly,” Minister Adams-Patterson emphasised.