Refunds on housing deposits still in the works

Government is yet to fulfill a major promise made late last year to hundreds of former National Housing Corporation (NHC) tenants.

Last December, Minister of Housing, Lands and Maintenance Dr. William Duguid declared that up to 576 former tenants would be refunded money previously paid towards the purchase of their units.

At the time, he told the Lower House of Parliament that the refunds, valued at over $5 million, would be given to former tenants from 21 of Government’s 49 housing units as early as Christmas.

The situation originated with the last administration when NHC tenants, some of whom had already paid down on their units with the intention of owning them, were gifted title to the residences.

Tenants who started paying prior to the decision were however never refunded, prompting the current administration to address the imbalance.

Consistent with arrangements established under the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, tenants who paid $5,000 or less were to receive the money in cash. Amounts over $5,000, however, were to be delivered in bonds.

Nearly four months after the promise was made, Duguid however revealed the process is still ongoing as departments outside the Ministry of Housing are managing the project. There is also no definitive timeline as to when the money will be disbursed.

“We have sent out 540-odd letters to those people and they are coming in to get their funds. The Central Bank [of Barbados] and the Ministry of Finance are managing it and what we [Ministry of Housing] do is we confirm that the person who made the deposit is the right person. That information is sent to the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance and they then deal with the bonds,” the housing minister explained.

“My disappointment is that they did not get it as quickly as I would like, but it is something that I push on every single week, not only at concept, but also at finality.

“If it was handled by the Ministry of Housing, then I would be more comfortable giving you a date, but that is really controlled by the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Barbados, so I wouldn’t want to give you a date. But I work at it every day to try to get those people their refunds,” Dr Duguid further added.
(KS)