–under new social housing programme

THE Ministry of Housing, through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), has invited contractors, consortiums and individuals to submit Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for the construction of 400-square-foot flat housing units, giving practical shape to the government’s newly unveiled Social Housing Programme for the country’s most economically vulnerable households.
According to a notice issued Monday and signed by CH&PA Chief Executive Officer, Dr Martin Pertab, applicants have until 3:00 PM on September 21, 2026 to submit proposals to the Chairman of the CH&PA Board at Plantation Houston, along the Mandela to Eccles Highway, East Bank Demerara.
The one-bedroom units, each fitted with a toilet and bath, ceiling, tiled finishes and a basic kitchen cupboard, are intended for extremely vulnerable and economically disadvantaged Guyanese who would otherwise struggle to access adequate housing through conventional means.
The call for bids delivers on a commitment President Irfaan Ali first signalled in mid-July, when he said the government was building a mechanism to identify the country’s most vulnerable citizens and connect them with dedicated housing support.
He said the initiative would prioritise single mothers facing financial hardship, persons living with disabilities and elderly citizens needing extra support to attain homeownership, with an initial target of between 3,000 and 5,000 social homes.
The President described the effort as central to his broader housing vision, one meant to “bring dignity to every single Guyanese family,” regardless of circumstance.
He returned to the theme weeks later during public consultations in Region Six, saying the programme would specifically reach persons living with severe disabilities and single parents facing extreme circumstances, groups he said needed the government’s most direct intervention.
“So, we will start a programme building houses,” he told residents, tying the initiative to the wider Model Village Initiative and reaffirming that every eligible resident in the region with a pending housing application would receive an allocation before the end of the year.
The social housing drive forms part of a wider transformation the sector has undergone since 2020.
Under the 2025-2030 Strategic Housing Plan, CH&PA is working toward the construction of 40,000 new houses nationwide, alongside a commitment to clear the bulk of the national housing backlog, estimated between 75,000 and 78,000 pending applications, before the end of the current term.
The government has said roughly 30,000 land titles have already been processed since 2020, with about 20,000 more in the pipeline.
That momentum was on full display in June, when President Ali opened the International Building Expo at the National Stadium, Providence, before more than 500 exhibitors, including developers, banks, prefabricators and green-technology firms.
Declaring that “the foundations of our nation have never been stronger,” he pointed to a sector he described as increasingly innovative and accessible. Among the initiatives cited was the Foundation Programme, through which the government has spent close to $1 billion helping house-lot beneficiaries pour standardised concrete foundations for 400, 600 and 950-square-foot houses.
Housing Minister Collin Croal, who launched the programme in July, has framed it as a way to help beneficiaries move from an empty house lot to a completed home. A separate tax measure now also allows first-time homeowners to deduct home-loan interest from their taxable income.
Monday’s invitation follows a similar exercise in October 2025, when CH&PA sought contractors for a broader range of housing models across all ten administrative regions, and reflects the agency’s continued push to bring private capacity into the delivery of public housing.
To qualify, applicants must demonstrate both technical and financial capacity. Requirements include audited financial statements for 2025, evidence of similarly sized past projects, lists of available equipment and qualified personnel, a proposed financing and construction methodology, full engineering and site drawings, and a detailed cost estimate for the housing model.
Applicants proposing imported materials or techniques must submit the relevant specifications, and companies must disclose any litigation from the past two years alongside standard business registration, GRA compliance and VAT documents.
Expressions of Interest must be written, signed and stamped, and submitted to the Chairman of the CH&PA Board at Plantation Houston, East Bank Demerara, no later than 3:00 PM on September 21, 2026.