Deputy Speaker of the House Gline Clarke today called on Minister of Housing, Lands and Rural Development George Payne to put a special mortgage facility in place to assist low income Barbadians to own a piece of the rock.
He put forward the idea in Parliament as he joined the debate on a resolution for Government to acquire land in Harrismith, St Philip to carry out housing and tourism development.
Calling for a “good housing policy” to be developed to help in the country’s development, Clarke said Government should seriously consider offering no or very low interest rate loans to incentivise low income Barbadians to build their own home.
“I am saying to you, we need to put in place a rapid response where persons can get loans at no interest and the Government has to do that. The only body can do that is the Government. Investors will not pull their money,” Clarke told his parliamentary colleagues.
Declaring that many people were unable to build a home with their current salaries, Clarke said there were too many working for minimum wages and had children to care for.
He said while many people were relying on the Urban Development Corporation and the Rural Development Corporation, these government departments “cannot do all”.
“Therefore Government need to come up with a programme of fiscal incentives similar to what was done a couple years ago,” Clarke said.
“People were allowed to use the General Workers’ [Housing] Loan Fund to borrow up to $100 000 at very low interest rate.
“I am not sure what is the status of the General Workers’ [Housing] Loan Fund today, but the average worker today cannot get a loan.
“He might go to the credit union and it might take him forever.
“The credit unions do not give loans readily to their members without a struggle, and how much do they get, what about the interest they attract?
“The banks again, are very reluctant to give mortgages as well, and if they do you have to do all these things to get adequate loans.
“I believe the Minister of Housing must put in place facilities for the ordinary Barbadian to acquire a loan at low interest rates.”
He also warned that any development policy should address issues of garbage collection, lighting and the provision of recreational spaces.
Minister of Maritime Affairs Kirk Humphrey cried shame on the commercial banking system for not doing more to assist Barbadians to own a home.
He said despite high liquidity in the banking system “poor people can’t get money to buy a house but they will loan you money to buy a car”.
“We have to make sure that we speak to the banking system, because the truth is that at the end of the day the Government would never be in a position to build as many houses as people need,” said Humphrey.
Stating that people in his constituency asked primarily for jobs and housing, he said efforts should be made to “empower” the private sector to build houses, and make sure that “poor people and middle income people have access to the financing system so they can build and pay for their own house”.
“I believe, given the liquidity in the banking system and given the fact that there are other pressures on people, we have to look at the way we are talking about these mortgages,” he said, as he declared housing is a necessity.
In his contribution, Minister of Youth and Community Empowerment Adrian Forde called for future community developments to have certain features that would impact positively “on every aspect of people’s life”.
Forde said: “I believe that every single housing project should have a community park, a home for the elderly and a recreational area for the elderly, and you must be able to talk about the disabled community.”
He also suggested that every housing development should consist of “an area or nursery for children”.
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The first law the Government should pass is to increase minimum wage to $15.00 an hour whereby Bajans can have a livable wage. Isn’t it strange how none of the past and present governments would address the situation, but, will always appreciate your vote.
His statement is absolutely correct that it is easier to get a loan to buy a car which can take as little as a few hours to be approved with a job letter and 6 months to get approval to buy a house spot. But the reality is that Barbados is a Vehicle crazy society and to a young person a Ford 150 or other Brands of 4 wheel off road machines is a status symbol and lending institutions know that those loans will get paid. Also the lending rates are higher and the loan term short. Default is no problem as they can easily seize the asset and resell the Vehicle. Land loans and default is a long drawn out costly process to the lender. Today still after 11+ years of recession the banks are very wary of lending out any money even though there are signs of future economic recovery . Bankers are not risk takers that is for other form of lending institutions which still do not exist in Barbados.
Finally someone thinking about the poor… i agree with the first comment as well
Minister Adrian Forde is correct in his statement.. Also what the commenter here ‘Jerry’ said about the car loan easier to obtain than a house loan.. When i was home last month some folks and i were discussing this matter and they express the same sediment, Barbados Government has to do better, the Banking Industry can afford to lend but they need a push from the Government.. I hope a change comes for those who are in need.. Here in Canada we have so many Mortgage Brokers, their Slogan.. When the Bank say No, we say Yes.. So people have an option..
Why is the honorable member now saying this, he should have said this 20 years ago and made sure it was done. Non the less I agree with Mr. Clarke , and Prime Minister Mottley should make sure it’s done. We have an aging population in Barbados, the professional people not getting kids. It’s the poor people that breed and bring children into constant poverty. Give poor Barbadian the opportunity to own piece of land.