— say owners of house lots; eager to sign up for Home Construction Assistance facility which opens today 

THE government will start accepting applications under the “Home Construction Assistance” facility from today and for many who know the hardships of trying to finance the construction of their own homes, the programme means they can breathe a sigh of relief.

The programme will be administered under the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), where a separate unit will be established to handle the applications.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Housing and Water Minister Colin Croal explained that the ministry is anticipating a rush by persons to get into the programme, so a separate waiting area will be created for these applicants to not add to the existing line system at the CH&PA.

“We expect an influx of persons, so we are putting mechanisms in place. People won’t even have to go upstairs [at CH&PA], they’ll go to a specific section to deal with applicants in that regard. They won’t have to go through that section where persons are coming for normal housing activities,” Minister Croal explained.

To apply, persons need to submit the original and copies of their ID cards or passports and their TIN certificates. The application process can be done in person or online at www.mohw.gov.gy or www.chpa.gov.gy.

“In-person application will be facilitated by a team from CH&PA and banking institutions at our head office,” Minister Croal noted.

The assistance is available both to persons who have lands in government housing schemes and those who have privately owned lands. The assistance for private land owners to build their homes was first mentioned by Vice-President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo at a community meeting at Novar, Mahaicony, Region Five, last month.

This month, the assistance programme was officially announced by President, Dr Irfaan Ali.

“If you increase the occupation level in existing housing schemes, it will reduce dependency on rental, it will accelerate home ownership, it will accelerate more activity in the construction sector. It will make it easier for persons to get financing to build their homes where the government will be partnering with the prospective homeowners, the banks and the contractors in delivering an end product that is a home to the respective families,” the President said.

For some land owners, they are eagerly anticipating commencement of the programme. They want to quickly register and get the ball rolling on being that much closer to owning their own homes.

“It is absolutely something I’m looking forward to signing up for,” said Stephon Watson, a 35-year-old self-employed, furniture-maker from Canal No. 2 on the West Demerara.

ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY 
“This is a very, very interesting thing the government is doing and I applaud them for it 100 per cent. I would advise a lot of young people who already have their land to take up this opportunity. Especially if you know you are not comfortable where you are living. Take it, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Watson, who is married, is currently in the process of purchasing land privately and is looking forward to signing up as an applicant in the programme as soon as he has the chance.

“There are so many problems you face in terms of construction. There is the material cost, and when you have to work and you might not always be around to see everything that is going on, sometimes the contractors might work half way and leave it.”

Under the “Home Construction Assistance” programme, applicants will be able to select their preference from an option of three standard models of houses, which will cost $7 million, $9 million or $12 million.

Depending on the applicant’s income level, government will support them through the process of applying for bank financing to meet the cost of construction of the home, and will also look at helping in the initial phase of construction by the releasing of resources to expedite the construction process and help in bringing the homeowners and the banks together.

The thought of getting help with the financing process for many potential applicants is the most attractive part of the programme.

“Finding the capital to put down the foundation and then to find a contractor to do the work, are two of the major challenges that you have when building a home. For someone who doesn’t really have a proper contractor or the capital to start my own home, this programme is something I am driven to apply to,” said 30-year-old, Denise Dufu, who recently received land from the government in the Belle West Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara

Under the assistance programme, the government will also undertake construction on the home on behalf of the applicant and give the applicant a complete home in accordance with the option selected. With the rising cost of renting, now more than ever owning their own homes is something that many Guyanese are yearning to achieve.

MEANS A LOT
“It means a lot, it means having privacy, having your own space. It’s your place of peace. It’s very much exciting to have my own home,” said Watson.

“It’s very much important. I don’t only see it as a means of shelter and comfort but it’s also a means of generational wealth. It is something I could pass on to my kids as a sense of security to my kids. So it very, very much important for me to have my own home,” said Denise, a mother of two.

Minister Croal noted that understanding what it means for citizens, particularly young citizens, to own their home is what has been the government’s motivation to implement this programme as the revenue became available.

“When you elect a government you elect them to make the lives of citizens better and as far as investments we can make. As we keep getting better as a country, and more resources become available it will allow us to make much, much more intervention[sic], and so that is what is happening here,” the minister noted

He added: “We already have our housing programme with money being spent for infrastructural development in the billions; we already have that and we already have our land allocation. So this is an added aspect that we are able to do because the economy is doing better and we have prudent management of our resources.”