Consultation to amend Condominium Act to start in June

Stakeholder consultations to streamline the amendment of the Condominium (Regulation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act is slated to begin by the first week of June.
Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal announced on Friday that the Attorney General’s Chambers is in the process of completing the draft amendment.

“The first draft we’re expecting by the new week and then it goes through the consultative process with our key stakeholders, for example, the banks, insurance companies and other relevant institutions who will have to give their input,” Croal said.
In the statement from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), it further detailed that feedback garnered from the stakeholder forum will play an integral role in development of the legislation. By September, it is anticipated that the bill will be presented to the Parliament for consideration.
The amendment of the Act will pave the way for owners of condominiums and duplexes to access titles for their land. Additionally, commercial banks would also be able to accept the properties as collateral and offer loans to the homeowners for expansion and insurance companies will also be allowed to issue policies for protection.

Currently, the Act caters for the regulation and division of properties into parts that are to be owned individually and parts that are to be owned in common, and to make provision for the use and management of such properties, and to make provision for the assignment of certain properties owned by the Government.
During this year’s budget presentation, Croal had told the National Assembly that the former APNU/AFC Government constructed duplexes without amending the Condominium Act to include this type of house. As such, persons are feeling the bugbear of being disqualified from accessing loans, insurances or titles.
“The result is that those citizens that invested their hard-earned dollars into these houses cannot get insurance or titles and even more worrying is that the banks are not amendable to hold duplexes as collateral. How could any Minister with an ounce of sense allow this to happen? No wonder even they though they inherited a robust housing and water sector, it has plunged into chaos for four years. It falls to us, this PPP/C Government, to once again rescue the housing sector,” he was quoted as saying.
The national housing development plan for 2021 includes the construction of 1000 homes for low-income earners in areas such as Cummings Lodge, Prospect, Providence, Little Diamond, Great Diamond, Onderneeming, Wales, Ordinance, Fortlands, Hampshire, Williamsburg and Amelia’s Ward. Another 100 is set aside for the hinterland communities.
This is in conjunction with the allocation of house lots to meet the 50,000 target within five years. (G12)