–Dr Jagdeo outlines how home ownership has become easier for Guyanese

EVEN as global interest rates increase owing to key policy interventions, mortgage rates in Guyana have significantly decreased, making home ownership affordable and easier for citizens.
People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, disclosed this during a press conference last Thursday.
The General Secretary’s comments come at a time when, according to him, the government’s long-term investments and key cost-of-living interventions are not being adequately acknowledged.
He highlighted that although Guyana is a way smaller country than the United States of America (USA), the PPP/C government has kept inflation relatively stable with its prudent management.
With the US being in election season, Dr Jagdeo said that at the Republican convention, the impacts of cost of living were highlighted and the claim was put forth by the speakers that the issue is “devastating” large sections of the population, owing to the major upsurge in prices.

The General Secretary, who also serves as Guyana’s Vice-President, decided to place focus on how home ownership has been bolstered under this current administration.
He said: “If you look at mortgage rates in Guyana, they have come down in spite of global increase in interest rates; it’s more affordable to get a loan now and take out a mortgage if you want home ownership and a lot of people are finding this out when they go to the banks.

“It’s a steep decline and largely because of, again, a government policy intervention that loans below income arising from loans below a certain threshold, US$40,000, which is $8 million that we removed the corporate tax from the income arising from those loans.”
Apart from this, the government has made tremendous injections into the housing sector. According to Dr Jagdeo, the government has developed some 33,000 house lots.
The Vice-President said: “We are building young professional homes. We are increasing the supply of homes. So, a Guyanese person now, even if they didn’t get a house lot yet knows that once they apply, they will get a house lot.”
He further said that by the end of this year, the PPP/C administration would have completed some 40,000 more house lots since it assumed office in 2020.

Dr Jagdeo emphasised that while the cost of living continues to burden many, including those in large economies such as the US, there are policy implementations within Guyana’s context that are making the lives of Guyanese easier.
“But in Guyana’s case, every young person who applies for a house lot or anyone knows that some time if they don’t get it today, they will get it in the future. They know also that the government is building homes so that those who don’t have the resources to start, they don’t have the collateral, can get one of those core homes, because when it’s built, we take you to the bank and then you get the mortgage, and the mortgage rates now are so low that it’s affordable from the income,” he said.
A total of 30,406 house lots were distributed within three years since the PPP/C Government assumed office, Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal said earlier this year.

For 2023, there were 8,578 residential lots allocated. These revelations were disclosed at the ministry’s end-of-year news conference. Out of the 30,406 house lots allocated, 28,368 of them were residential.
According to the Housing Minister, youths and women made up a significant portion of the allottees. In fact, it was recorded that 53.3 per cent were youths. That is, 15,119 of the allottees were 35 years old or younger.
Additionally, over the last three years, there was a consistent 40 per cent allocation to women only; however, for 2023, this percentage soared to around 43 per cent. Moreover, approximately 90 per cent of allottees were between low to moderate income.
As the government continues to pursue its promise of providing affordable housing for all, the minister remarked that there are ongoing works to establish housing areas in Regions One, Seven, Eight, Nine and 10.
Notably, in 2023, some 7,128 were distributed in Region Four. For 2023, another 1,079 lots were allocated in Region Three, 125 in Region Five, and 192 in Region Six.