Housing Ministry targeting squatting areas for regularisation

The Ministry of Housing and Water has identified at least 24 informal areas across Guyana for regularisation in 2025 in an effort to provide citizens with legal ownership of their land.
During a Guyana Dialogue programme, Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal made this disclosure as he outlined plans to regularise those squatting communities this year.
“We have a number of areas we have targeted for this year. So, we have targeted about, close to about, I would say 24 areas at a minimum. For Region Two, we have areas like the Lima Sands Housing Scheme which is up for regularisation,” he said.

Among settlements targeted for regularisation are Vigilance South and North; Coldingen North; De Endragt, south of the Railway Embankment; Enmore Newtown, Enmore Beezie and Enmore Hope West; Enterprise Block 8, and Enterprise Market Street; some settlements located on the Essequibo Coast; areas in Region Six such as Belvedere North and Hampshire; and settlements in Region Ten such as Coomacka, Silver Hill, West Watooka and Wismar, among other places.
Minister Croal has said these squatter settlements have been occupied for years without residents having legal ownership of the lands they have occupied. He explained that there is a maximum target for beneficial occupancy of house lots in each of these settlements, and relocation may be necessary in some of these areas.
“We’re catering for a minimum of about 1,000 to be regularised. Additionally, there are areas that require relocation,” he declared.
He explained that because of various constraints, some informal settlements cannot be regularised, making relocation necessary. However, for the areas where regularisation is possible, Government plans to provide the necessary infrastructure and grant legal ownership to residents.
“This programme is part of a massive relocation and regularisation effort to address the needs of landless citizens and improve their living conditions,” Croal disclosed, even as he revealed that Government had regularised some 17 squatter settlements in 2024, causing some 1,571 housing lots to be legally owned.