67 new housing areas developed in four years – Min Rodrigues

– Over 36,000 house lots allocated in four years

With the high demand for house lots in Guyana, 67 new housing areas have been developed countrywide within the last four years, paving the way for thousands of Guyanese to become homeowners.

This was highlighted by the Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues, during the recent episode of ‘Guyana Dialogue.’

From August 2020, the government has allocated more than $240 billion to the housing sector, bolstering housing infrastructure development.

“It’s a historic investment in the housing sector. And one that we are tremendously proud of. The only way we could have done this is by setting such a high target for ourselves and ensuring that we do everything and spare no effort to reach our target of 50,000 house lots,” Minister Rodrigues underlined.

She said the ministry is in negotiations for lands for housing development with National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), and Guyana Lands and Survey Commission.

This year, the government has earmarked 21 housing areas for development in Regions One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, and Ten.

“We continue to work on new housing areas. It is an ongoing effort to identify land for housing. We have competing interests for land. We have to make lands available for GuySuCo, agriculture, and our housing programme,” the minister added.

The establishment of the housing areas with the necessary infrastructure provides the allottees with the opportunity to commence house construction.

The minister noted that there has been a tremendous increase in the number of people who are very eager to build a home.

This is due to the plethora of measures implemented by the government to provide assistance to homebuilders, geared to boost their standard of living.

These initiatives include the distribution of land titles, house lot allocation, regularisation of squatting areas, and the housing construction support initiative.

For example, the government worked with the local banking institutions and the New Building Society (NBS) to reduce the mortgage rates as low as 3.5 per cent for loans up to $9 million.

So far, over 36,000 house lots have been distributed to families countrywide, in keeping with the government’s ongoing commitment to providing sustainable and affordable housing to Guyanese.