–with passage of new Condominium Bill

THE landmark passage of the Condominium Bill No.4 of 2022 in the National Assembly on Tuesday serves as a form of “rescue” for a number of Guyanese, Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips has said.

In outlining the need for this new piece of legislation, the Prime Minister told the House that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government was forced to introduce the Bill because of the significant number of complaints from citizens who were allocated duplexes under the former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) administration.

“The APNU+AFC Government sometime between 2015 and 2017, had a bright idea of constructing duplexes as an initiative to provide housing to Guyanese, but as is typical of the APNU+AFC, no idea is ever well thought out and the people are left to face the consequences of their incompetence,” the Prime Minister said.

He said the previous coalition administration implemented a duplex housing project without supportive policies and regulations.

“Imagine giving houses to people looking forward to home ownership, only for those persons to find out that there is absolutely no law that provides any protection for their hard-earned money which they invested… and not being able to even be granted a title to show for their accomplishment of home ownership and security for themselves and future generation,” the Prime Minister noted.

Persons who occupy the homes are not the only ones facing the difficulties, but banks and private investors too were affected.

“The lack of legal framework hindered banks from being able to provide support to many, especially young people and poor families who needed loans. Private investors too who explored this avenue for investment also found it difficult as the law simply did not exist, but yet we had a government offer this to the people,” Prime Minister Phillips lamented.

The passage of the bill creates the basis for condominiums to be built and sold with access to services from banks, insurance companies, and more importantly, for titles to be granted for individual home ownership as stipulated by law.

With six parts and 65 clauses, the bill makes provision for the horizontal and vertical subdivision of land and buildings into units for individual ownership, and for the use and management of condominiums.

Clause 44 empowers unit owners to ensure their respective units. The bill also stipulates that proposed declarations and descriptions of units be approved by the minister before a condominium is constructed, or before an existing building is converted into a condominium.

It also empowers the minister to approve, reject or direct the amendment of a proposed declaration and description.

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, in his presentation to the National Assembly said that prior to the bill being brought to the House, there were several consultations held with stakeholders in the housing sector, including banking institutions and insurance companies, among others.

Minister Croal said that in addition to the situation created by the past administration, the government recognised that the demand for housing was concentrated in urban areas and as such a challenge to develop new housing areas arose.

FOREIGN INTEREST  
He related that a number of foreigners and expatriates who have been coming into Guyana have also been seeking to have more modern options for housing, such as townhouses, apartments and condos.

This, Croal said, caused a number of foreign investors to express their interest in constructing condominiums here.

“While we welcome the interest, it was clear to us that we needed to amend, repeal and replace the current laws to provide a clear legislative landscape for the establishment and the regulation of condominium schemes,” the Housing and Water Minister said.

Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues, said the bill is in keeping with the government’s commitment to update and modernise the country’s legal framework.

Opposition Member of Parliament, Annette Ferguson, expressed the opposition’s support for the bill, but added that their hope was that it would be sent to a special select committee for further examination.

Croal, however, said that it is the government’s intention to put the necessary administrative procedures in place.