25, 000 house lot applications pending – Unoccupied lots could be repossessed to fill needs

By Svetlana Marshall

WITH some 25,000 persons waiting for a house lot, the Ministry of Communities is considering taking back lots from persons who have failed to build on theirs and pass it to persons who are in desperate need. Of the areas where house lots were allocated, just 60% are occupied, and so the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) says repossession of house lots ought to be an option, especially when there is a house lot deficit in areas where the demands are high.

“We do not have any land available in Region 10, and we do not have low income lots available in Region Four,” Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing Valerie Adams-Patterson said during her inaugural press conference at CH&PA on Monday.

Also at the press conference were CH&PA Chief Executive Officer Myrna Pitt and the Director of Operations Denise Tudor-King.

Since taking office in January, Minister Patterson has spearheaded three outreaches in Linden, Lethem and New Amsterdam; however, due to the shortage of house lots in developed areas less than 200 allocations were made.

Though the Housing Authority was able to allocate approximately 100 house lots in Lethem and 36 in Linden, it was unable to allocate any in New Amsterdam.

According to Minister Patterson, New Amsterdam continues to be a major challenge. She explained that Fort Ordinance is the only developing housing scheme in close proximity to New Amsterdam but there are no available house lots there.

“However, there are 589 vacant lots…these were allocated to persons in the past but they have not occupied them,” Minister Patterson pointed out, noting that alottees are being invited to return these house lots to the state.
However, she said in some cases CH&PA would have no other choice than to repossess unoccupied house lots that were allocated many years ago.

“(Repossession) is not a word some persons like to hear, but it is unfair if somebody is allocated a piece of land 10-20 years ago and they are not occupying it; then they need to give it up. There are quite a lot of applicants in New Amsterdam awaiting allocation,” she pointed out.

The Director of Operations said though repossession is not the first option, it is an option that will be used if allottees fail to occupy their house lots within the specified time frame.

“Currently our occupancy level, looking at all of our schemes, it is just over 60% (and) in some schemes it is much higher. We have thousands of unoccupied lots out….,” she said.

CH&PA is guided by a repossession policy that clearly outlines the steps to be taken if house lots are to be repossessed. Tudor-King explained that if someone was given three months to pay for a plot of land, and he or she failed to do so several years after, automatically, the Housing Authority would rescind the application.

However, she said if a person was given 18 months to take possession of a plot of land, the Housing Authority would invite that person to a meeting during which an agreement would be signed allowing for an extension.

“Should they fail to respond or start building on those lots, then we will have to move to the next stage where we will recall the allocations but we must notify them,” she further explained.

“But the idea is not for us to repossess just like that but for us to be able to talk with them….give them the opportunity to occupy their house lots but once they would have failed to occupy, we will recall those lots,” she added.

Currently, the Housing Authority is in the process of finalizing the list with the names of the defaulters. However, in 2015 it commenced the distribution of letters inviting defaulters to meet with the authority. Minister Patterson, however, made it clear that persons who were allocated house lots in undeveloped areas would not face similar fate, stating that lands in these areas would not be repossessed.

With thousands of applications in the system and the need for more land, she said CH&PA is also working assiduously to boost infrastructure development in areas where lands are available.

“…we are working assiduously and in a systematic way to reduce the backlog. What I have done and continue to do, in areas where we have available house lots we are pushing the allocations.”

She maintained that while there are lands available there is no infrastructure in place and as such the focus for 2016 would be on infrastructure development, paving the way for the development of low and middle income house lots.
Currently infrastructural works are ongoing in Linden, Bartica and on the East Bank of Demerara in areas such as Herstelling, Coven Garden, Eccles, Providence and Perseverance.

The Ministry of Communities will this year commence infrastructure works in Stewartville, Cummings Lodge and Prospect. However, these projects will not be completed until 2017. Allottees in these areas who are unable to access their lands can request a reallocation if they do not wish to wait until 2016 to commence construction, according to Minister Patterson.