50 middle-income houses to be constructed in Hampshire – Min Croal

…30 families identify house lots at Ordnance Fort Lands

As part of the Housing and Water Ministry’s effort to ease the process of homeownership for Guyanese across the country, construction of 50 new houses is expected to begin within the next two months at Hampshire in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
This is according to Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal on Wednesday during the distribution of Cement and Steel Vouchers to landowners within the region.
“We will start in another month or month and a half, construction of another 50 houses in the Hampshire area,” Croal said. “But we’ll be upping the type of design to be more like middle-income.”
The Minister clarified that these houses, costing $7 million, will have a different design directed towards middle-income earners, in contrast to the low-income houses that the Ministry has been constructing for $5.5 million.

 At 600 square feet, these houses are two-bedroom flat units that also include a bathroom and a kitchen.
“We’re trying to create opportunities for you, young people who are working in the system, people who don’t have time for their own construction, people who don’t have time to run behind contractors,” Croal said. “Once [you’re] in the formal system and [you’ve] been pre-approved by the bank, we will be sending you through similarly.”
As of January, the construction of 100 low-income houses in Leonora, Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) began, with the initiative also involving building access roads, bridges, and drainage networks in addition to installing water and electrical supply networks.
The Housing Ministry continues to put in measures to aid land and homeowners.
Alongside the Central Housing and Planning Authority, it has thus far allocated some 22,000 house lots across the country with an overall goal of 50,000 by 2025.
On Wednesday, 96 landowners in Berbice received Cement and Steel Vouchers to the tune of $225,000 each to fast-track their construction.
These vouchers, which expire within six months, can be redeemed at Ghafoor’s, David Persaud Investments, National Hardware, and N Singh Lumber Yard & Hardware Store, with the suppliers bound by the agreement to keep their steel and cement costs at a fixed price for voucher recipients.
“We want to be able to be a facilitator, an enabling environment, so that you can as quickly as possible move on to the state of homeownership,” Croal said, adding that this subsidy programme aimed to give residents a push to begin the construction process.
During the Region Six exercise, several allottees of Ordnance Fort Lands, New Housing Scheme also received their Agreement of Sale and were able to move on to register for their land titles.
Meanwhile, some 30 families who were allotted house lots in Ordnance Fort Lands were invited to identify their lots and their respective boundaries, signalling full access to commence construction of their homes.