Cross-ministry approach planned to tackle homes crisis

| 10/12/2021 | 136 Comments
Cayman News Service
NDHT Project in East End in June 2021

(CNS): At least four ministries from the PACT Government will be involved in a wide number of plans and policies aimed at tackling the emerging housing crisis impacting Caymanians from all walks of life, as the real estate sector has created an unsustainable situation relating to property prices across the Cayman Islands.

Among the proposals set out in the budget, government plans to sell sub-divisions on crown land at cost, use the Cayman Islands Development Bank for home loans and create transitional accommodation for the homeless.

In addition to the housing ministry’s efforts to start building as many as 100 affordable homes, the ministers responsible for lands, social affairs and finance will all be involved in projects aimed at helping people realise the dream of home ownership.

In his Budget Policy Statement, Premier Wayne Panton spoke directly about the problem that development has caused for ordinary people when it comes to finding a home. “Caymanians have always proudly striven to own their own home,” he said.

Until recently, this has generally been attainable but things have changed, he said, adding, “Housing and land prices have soared out of reach for most Caymanians, including our well educated young professionals.”

With people sleeping in their cars unable to afford rent, and a starter two-bed home costing more than $400,000, when the average salary is around $3,000 a month, he said that provision was being made in this budget to give families access to decent housing through a variety of projects and policies as part of the PACT Government’s goal to place social justice issues at the centre of its priorities.

Jay Ebanks, the minister responsible for housing, said it was a major priority and the government would empower the National Housing and Development Trust to increase the number of homes it builds over this budget. He said he aimed to build at least 75 affordable homes, but had his eye on a hundred, over the coming budget period and would be looking for new land in George Town.

The government has set aside another $10 million for the housing trust in 2022 and just over $9 million in 2023 but it will also be tackling the housing problem through a number of other polices.

The PACT will be continuing and expanding the government-guaranteed home-assisted mortgages and will be lowering the cost of borrowing through new home loan programmes at the Cayman Islands Development Bank, which falls under the finance ministry and is getting an additional $4.5 million this budget to cover debts.

The ministry is also planning to reduce stamp duty on land for Caymanians and there are plans to reform the Foreclosures Act to make it more equitable.

The minister responsible for lands, Julianna O’Connor-Connolly, has announced plans to use crown land already purchased or newly acquired land to create sub-divisions across the islands to sell to local people at cost to enable them to build their own homes.

The minister revealed plans for what she described as the first planned community on land acquired for the public in East End, where 40 house lots will be made available and preference given to residents in the district. She explained during her budget speech last week that it was separate from the affordable homes programme.

“We will be rolling out an affordable residential land lot programme,” she said. “It will focus on Caymanians who wish to own their very own parcel of land, to construct their own house.”

The minister added, “It is anticipated to fill a gap which we all see today where we have Caymanians that don’t qualify for affordable home programmes due to their income being too high but not high enough to purchase a home in today’s market.”

She said the government will acquire new or use existing land in all of the districts to create these sub-divisions with the necessary roads and other infrastructure, and they will each include at least one lot for a commercial business and a community centre.

There will also be provision for the social affairs ministry to build rental homes for indigent and homeless people. Located across from what is to become a new district public beach, she said this pilot programme, to be launched early next year, was an opportunity to create a well planned out new urban community.

Meanwhile, Social Development Minister André Ebanks outlined plans to address the trap that is causing homelessness. He said people get displaced from their homes when it takes the Needs Assessment Unit too long to help them.

Then when they do get the assistance, they are unable to find a landlord who will rent to them, as the stock of homes that NAU can access is shrinking and these people have nowhere to go. He therefore promised to find housing that government can acquire to rent to those in need.


Share your vote!


How do you feel after reading this?
  • Fascinated
  • Happy
  • Sad
  • Angry
  • Bored
  • Afraid

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Category: development, Government Finance, Local News, Politics

Comments (136)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. BLVCKLISTED says:

    I asked about these and was told to “wait until after the next election”, about 2 elections ago.

    As usual with all of our Governments I’ll believe it when I see it, and I won’t be holding my breath in the meantime.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Where is “Dr” Frank when you need him most?

  3. ThIs WrItInG Is VeRy IrRiTaTiNg says:

    If they really wanted to fix these problems they would expropriate all the unfit homes in certain areas, knock them down and rebuild proper housing. The could make them multi level complexes so that everyone that had a property taken would get a brand new safe home and there would be plenty to sell to others looking to enter the property market. Building more individual homes to fall into disrepair is not the answer.

  4. Anonymous says:

    CIG has done this every few years and have never failed to fail. Watch and remember what, who and how this works this time. Then you will understand that this is just another way for CIG to spend the money on itself again. Then quickly forget what you have learned again. Then Blame Dart, Expats, developers, the UK, and everyone else that you have ben trained to hate again. Then do it all over again. Congratulations. You have won the right to be Caymanian again.

    • Chris Johnson says:

      I cannot agree with this. In the 80s a government of the time formed the Housing Development Corporation. Monies were raised from the financial community by the issue of debentures. Mrs Angela Miller was the manager of the corporation that met on a regular basis.
      Initially mortgages had been given to cronies of the Bodden government but with a new committee we put that to a stop. We never had a bad debt and our accounts were always the first statutory board accounts to be completed and audited. Ezzard was the chairman for a while before Dan Scott took over. Following that the wise government of the day instructed that the mortgage portfolio be sold. You can guess the name of that government leader of the day.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Who is responsible for allowing the real estate sector to create an “unsustainable situation relating to property prices across the Cayman Islands”?

  6. Anonymous says:

    Lets just turn Barkers into a trailer park. It already full of trash.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Just be done with it and start building 10- 15 story tenements/council flats or whatever you want to call them.
    Land is what’s expensive here.
    Provide 24 hour security and evict anyone who urinates/ poos in the elevator.

    • Anonymous says:

      At the end of the day it’s part of the price you pay for development. These houses must be made sustainable and green with solar panels and mini grids or else the occupants could find themselves back seeking assistance from social services..

  8. Darlene Mckenzie says:

    With no distespect. Building septic tanks in front of the homes looks so disgraceful. Spoil the beauty of the homes.

  9. Darlene Mckenzie says:

    With no disrespect. Build the bedrooms with sufficient enough space so that the families can turn around in. Also fill the land the right way build the houses with patios so if families want too sit outside they will not get wet from the rain. And build the houses high off of the ground from any type of flooding. Put walls around all homes so that everyone in each household can have their own privacy.

    • Vigilante says:

      With no disrespect…beggars can’t be choosers…so if you want all the nice extras: work hard, save money, get educated, go to university at night if necessary, buy small first, invest wisely…but if you want CIG to deliver a house you may have to be ok with what you get!

  10. Anonymous says:

    Please, please, please. Do not create large subdivisions of these homes. Create 6-10 home subdivisions. These are much more likely to remain as a nice family environment.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Place a hefty tax on overseas buyers when purchasing units if they will not reside in them. This bubble is sure to pop, just like all bubbles – but in order to maintain a sustainable market, local residents should receive a considerable discount and we should have fewer absentee landlords resulting in a healthier supply and demand ratio, which is what will be needed in the next coming years, – otherwise, we will all be sleeping in our cars.

    • John says:

      There already is a healthy tax on foreign buyers. It’s called Stamp Duty. On a 7 mile beach condo it can be some $1/2 million. Then there’s the import duty on their furniture and car.

      Do people seriously think that foreigners buying condos and luxury homes is the reason that starter homes are so expensive?

      Just go ahead and ban them and see how quickly the jobs disappear.

      How about lumber prices that have internationally gone up by 50%? And energy prices that are also outside our control.

      Take ANY International city and most people can’t live in prime areas. Not in Manhattan. Not in Mayfair. Not on the Peak (in Hong Kong) not in the posh parts of Paris. Nowhere.

      What’s needed are better roads. A flyover at the Hurley’s roundabout for example so people can live in less expensive areas without being stuck in world-class traffic.

  12. Anonymous says:

    CIG spend 1/2 Billion $ every year on wages.

    $7200 per resident

    • Neverwannabeacivilservant says:

      8.13am Well said but what do they spend on the medical expenses of the Civil Service horde and all their spouses and dependents?.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Stop building single family homes for the purposes of affordable housing. Multi-unit dwellings are far more economical and can get a lot more people into home ownership.

    • Anonymous says:

      Affordable means
      Cheaper labor, materials, fixtures and fittings, financing, land and fill cost, import duties, planning and infrastructure fees, to name a few.
      At a minimum, Reduce the above costs, then you can have ‘affordable’.

    • Anonymous says:

      ‘”… aimed at tackling the emerging housing crisis impacting Caymanians from all walks of life,’

    • Anonymous says:

      more people into debt, congratulations.

    • Anonymous says:

      We do not need a “projects” style
      Solution to housing! I’ve lived near many of these and they become controlled by criminals and are a haven for drugs and prostitution. Not what Cayman needs.

      Affordable homes integrated into already existing communities is the best way to achieve this. That way the homes become part of an already existing community and the residents adopt the rules and customs of those around them and not the other way round.

      We really need to be careful how we tackle this problem and Learn from the mistakes of others

  14. Anonymous says:

    Four Ministries working “together” proves we have some incompetent Ministers. Why can’t the Minister of Housing not handle on his own? Oh, pardon me, he didn’t finish school and is widely known as being inept for the Minister seat he holds.

  15. Anonymous says:

    CIMA is extremely aggressive on source of wealth for trust companies. Where is their oversight on foreigners plowing millions into real estate without any due diligence requirements??? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what is going and why real estate has gone insanely expensive so high that it’s laughable.
    Realtors on island do nothing and make millions that’s another place to start hacking down cost

    • John says:

      Commissions are controlled by CIREBA. A real estate agent can’t charge a lower commission and belong to CIREBA.
      Price fixing like this is illegal in the USA. I know this because I used to be a Realtor in Florida.
      1% of the very high commission goes to CIREBA. It’s a racket.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yet it takes almost two months to open a bank account for a locally owned small business at a local bank. They kill you ejth forms and declarations, you even have to submit a business plan just to open a simple checking account. This system is not for Caymanians

    • Anonymous says:

      The Know Your Customer regulations cover real estate transactions and are very strict. The idea that foreigners are plowing millions into real estate without any due diligence is utter tripe.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Pact..take back some the land dart owns or aquire it at cost?

  17. Anonymous says:

    Miami Beach real estate has a 1% tax that goes into their homelessness issues. CIG could scale back CIREBA commissions to cover quite a lot more.

  18. Anonymous says:

    Can CNS please define equitable? Equitable according to who?

  19. Anonymous says:

    We have built 2 bed 2 bath apartments for 150k.
    Couldn’t find buyers, since they spent their money on car stereo and car loan . With no savings at all, don’t even bother to walk into a bank for a mortgage.
    The problem are the buyers. Especially young caymanians.

    • Anonymous says:

      Please tell me where these apartments are advertised for sale. A 2bed in today’s market for $150k is good deal so please let me know. Thanks!

    • Anonymous says:

      Maybe not all

    • Anonymous says:

      You sound like an armchair developer

    • Anonymous says:

      Real estate commissions are legalised daylight robbery! Fix the damn dump too.

    • Anonymous says:

      I call bullsh!t to your claim. Why not specify which units are/were for sale for 150k? Myself, along with many other young Caymanians would be very interested to know.

    • Lo-cal says:

      Where have you built them? I am very interested to know.

    • Anonymous says:

      I am a young Caymanian with a six-figure job offer from abroad, looking to return home and start a family at some point. I would love to know where these kinds of prices are being advertised.

      • Anonymous says:

        Game and match! Take the job offer from abroad, the poster is messing. Take the six figure job offer abroad where you are already living.

    • Anonymous says:

      Anonymous 10 @ 5:29pm – You built 2bd/2bth apts for $150K? Great! The real question is what were you or your agent asking for them? I bet it wasn’t anywhere under $200K – nor even close. I don’t recall seeing any new 2bed apts on the market for that price (and I’m actively looking). Maybe you wrote in from some place where construction costs are no more than $100 psf!?

      That’s the real problem – greedy sellers and agents (I’m not calling you out but many others) who try to maximize their profits!

    • Anonymous says:

      In what district? What do you rent them for? I am a single young woman, making $2800 per month, paying $1400 per month for a very simple one bedroom, safe neighbourhood . The best I can do. With food, CUC, internet and water, I can barely afford the gas to get to work. SMH

    • Anonymous says:

      Call you out on that one…your attempt at humour or sarcasm didn’t reach the blow holes.

    • Anonymous says:

      5.29pm TROLL

  20. Anonymous says:

    Four ministries will work together?🤣🤣🤣🤣
    That s the funniest thing I have heard in a long time.

  21. Anonymous says:

    Glad to see something is being done but this is hardly an “emerging” problem.
    For decades this issue has and continues to exist where the average Caymanian cannot afford the highest cost of living in the world.
    Wages remain stagnant while prices continue to rise, simple economics.

    • Anonymous says:

      All brought to you by a government that has for a decade refused to follow the immigration laws designed and intended to mitigate against what is happening.

      • Anonymous says:

        Governments

      • Michael Day says:

        The Government has been in for less than a year.

        There IS a serious problem.

        As we came out of lockdown I was expecting property prices to fall and transaction volume to slow.

        Instead things went crazy and prices skyrocketed. It has tempered off somewhat now though.

        I am often asked – what’s with the market? Truth is, despite an education in economics and a previous career in credit banking, I cannot understand it.

        All I know is: this is a real crisis that we will be witness to.

        A 20 year 3 bed apartment on Fairbanks Rd just sold for CI$525k! Before we even contemplate the lower income bracket, imagine: a young professional couple with a couple of kids. For most- unattainable.

        Yes – I own a real estate company , and yes, I am an easy target for trolls.

        Truth is, I am seriously concerned for my People.

        I hope the government buys land and employs other measures to help young people attain ownership.

  22. Anonymous says:

    ALL really bad ideas.

  23. Anonymous says:

    With limited land, why don’t we convert one of the old office buildings in Town into a housing complex?
    Or, let’s utilize our canals and marinas by having houseboats or liveaboards. We have to be assertive, innovative and creative if we want to resolve the housing crisis.

    • Anonymous says:

      10 @ 3:08pm – Fair enough. Applaud your thinking beyond your nose but some of those options will be “the projects” in a few years. Houseboat squatters? Hmmm… a concept. Sounds like SE Asia.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes, let’s turn downtown into housing projects. That should be great for tourism.

    • Anonymous says:

      Converting Shipping Containers is also an idea. I’ve seen some beautiful homes made from these.

      • Anonymous says:

        That was supposed to happen years ago, revitalize George Town with apartments above office buildings, greenery, restaurants, bars. Yeah right, who buying up land – wonder what the just demolished house on Smith Road bought by government going to be used for. Owner must have got a good price. They creeping all over and few know.

      • Anonymous says:

        Think that would happen without government or rich man opposition.

      • Anonymous says:

        Not in the tropics where it’s +90 degrees year around.

      • Anonymous says:

        Oh come on. How’s the CIG supposed to make money out of a scheme like that?

      • Anonymous says:

        Small modular buildings that can withstand storm damage and also gunfire are available now. No construction needed. Just land and utilities

    • Anonymous says:

      That was supposed to happen years ago, revitalize George Town with apartments above office buildings, greenery, restaurants, bars. Yeah right, who buying up land – wonder what the just demolished house on Smith Road bought by government going to be used for. Owner must have got a good price. They creeping all over and few know.

  24. Caymanian multi property owner and landlord says:

    Why doesn’t put in place a law similar to those in large cities with same development issues where developers have to do 70/30 luxury vs affordable or not get approval. As well as limit (not stop) foreigners being able to purchase property. The market is insane especially in the last 18 months and as stated in the article neither home ownership nor renting is attainable for many when coupled with the other high cost of living factors.

    • Anonymous says:

      we already have the laws you speak of. Having more than two rental properties requires a Trade and Business License (whether you are Caymanian or not). The problem, as usual, is we do not enforce our laws. Any of them.

      • Caymanian multi property owner and landlord  says:

        I am not referring to owning multiple rental properties and need for a trade and business license, that is not the issue at hand. I am referring to developers who want to build luxury properties as is the case in the vast majority (which are obviously not targeted at the local market) would need to allocate 30% or more of the development to affordable housing and the local market or not get planning approval. We do not have laws such as that. Additionally limiting foreign ownership such as needing permanent residency to purchase property other than the existing timeshares or something to that effect.

  25. Anonymous says:

    Get rid of CIREBA for starters. Or impose a cap of 2% commission on real estate transactions. Those agent jokers are a huge part of the higher housing issue. Plus they actually do very little work and some do not know what they should do.

    • Anonymous says:

      Top comment!
      7% is absolute robbery.

      1-2% is plenty, or even a fixed fee model.

      When agents can earn $1m+ a year, there is no incentive to control the market, and the industry has become full of sharks.

      • Anonymous says:

        Agents making that kind of money are doing so off the multimillion dollar condos.
        They are not making a living off the NAU housing recipients.

    • Anonymous says:

      Agreed. There’s no earthly reason why a seller should need to use a real estate agent. It’s not rocket science and you can do your own research at Lands as to comps and recent sales. Lands Department staff are very helpful and knowledgeable. Take some time to work out your price and you and the purchaser profit.

      • Anonymous says:

        Just bought a block of land. We did the entire process ourselves including due diligence on a search of the registry and submitted to L.S.U for the applicable stamp duty & submission fee’s. No reason any capable person cannot transact a property between themselves & a buyer/seller. We only had an attorney to witness signatures. No agent fees /commission.

  26. Anonymous says:

    Planning needs to reassess its requirements. They need to enforce safe building practices but allow people to build affordably. They rule out alternative buildings because they are narrow-minded and can’t think out to the box. You can still build economically and maintain safety.

  27. Anonymous says:

    In other places there are incentives for first time home buyers with lower interest rates, restrictions on resale and a lower down payment (among other incentives).
    The only incentive that I am aware of here is a discount on the stamp duty but the cost of the property has to be under a certain amount so that was no good for all first time home buyers…
    Back when I qualified, it was $150K. I had busted my butt to get a down payment to afford something ‘nice’ so I was ‘punished’ for spending $189
    Pathetic waste of time. Why should I be punished for driving a 15+ year old car in order to save for a down payment for a more expensive property?

  28. Elvis says:

    Totally stupid idea yet again. Why doesnt someone value property correctly ensuring a cap is put on homes for sale instead of people asking crazy prices. You may say well if they ask crazy prices it wont sell? Problem is absolutely everyone is asking crazy prices for even a one bed apt with no governance at all from anyone.

  29. Anon says:

    the add ons to real estate transactions don’t help: CIREBA’s price fixing on sales commissions (surely an anti competitive behavior?) and CIG stamp duty – both on the transfer and the mortgage.

  30. Anonymous says:

    As long as the houses are ready just before the next elections!!

  31. Anonymous says:

    The easiest solution to this is the following:

    IMMEDIATELY stop the SEZC and Global Conciege programs.
    IMMEDIATELY freeze development of million dollar condos.
    IMMEDIATELY freeze land prices and consider regulating them.
    IMMEDIATELY put a moraturium on who can buy land in Cayman and how. ie. the 10 year waiting period as a PR as in some other islands.
    IMMEDIATELY force developers to pass on the millions in duty free concessions to new buyers.
    IMMEDIATELY make Government reclaim the foriegn purchased and unused houses on the islands and have them resold to locals at discount.

    • Anonymous says:

      so you want to build less properties, to reduce supply of homes, which somehow you think will decrease home prices?

    • Anonymous says:

      So immediately tear up the rule of law and smash a wrecking ball through your constitution. Brilliant! LOL. Congrats now you own a condo in an economic wasteland.

      • Anonymous says:

        I am sure the sight of government forcibly acquiring foreign owned property to be resold to locals at a discount won’t have any impact on the financial services sector either. I mean, as a foreign investor I would be absolutely positive that CIG would one day decide to do the same to my shares in a Cayman entity, particularly if it was very profitable. But I think your simple solution is a little too modest. Let’s just adopt the Cuban model where there is no private property and the state just allocated everyone somewhere to live – no problems with Cubans having access to residential property. Of course it may not quite be to the standard we are used to in Cayman, or even have running water or electricity, but what the hey.

    • Anonymous says:

      International business people aren’t coming here to buy your housing in west bay and east end.

      Don’t worry, we get the message. I’ll spend my $70,000 a month elsewhere

    • Anonymous says:

      @2:06 and IMMEDIATELY reck the economy! Clueless.

  32. Cayman Mama says:

    This is segregated plots of land away from the extremely wealthy. Yes keep the poor locals away from the rich. It’s a bandaid to a problem the government allowed. See where short term greed got us? Stuck in traffic, far away from the beaches, and teaching us to accept handouts. Not sure what the generations to come are going to do. I guess move to the brac and little cayman to afford to own something of their own.

    • Anonymous says:

      Generations are going overseas for education, on scholarships and their father and mother working all hours so their child/ren move on, and not coming back bcos nothing here for them. Just as generations have done since beginning of time.

    • Anonymous says:

      Gentrification is definitely in play here, and it will only get worse.

  33. Anonymous says:

    Oh my word. This is a serious problem and my faith in this government to solve it based on reading this article is approximately zero percent, possibly even less than that.

    There is a saying that “the fastest way to kill a horse is to assign two people to feed it”, but I’ll bet the person who came up with it never tried assigning four people.

    I’m glad everyone is so eager to take responsibility for the project. It will be interesting to see who is left around the table when it’s time to take the blame for the lack of results, the waste, the fraud and the abuse.

    • Anonymous says:

      Ah, the waste, the fraud, the abuse. All near certain. All exempt from investigation from our #worlclass law enforcers and anti corruption agencies.

      Hey RCIP, how is the investigation into some of the most egregious status grants coming? You do understand that those grants and this problem are substantially related, right?

  34. Anonymous says:

    Time for CPA to realise that developed first world countries have embraced the potential benefits of homes built from shipping containers. Some designs actually are indistinguishable from homes built from concrete. This would also save on ship them back to the continents empty.
    I can’t fathom why it takes over 4 ministries to plan and implement a solution. Then again if there’s money to be made I guess more than a few might want a cut. I doubt anything good for the people who need affordable housing will be born out of this.
    Too many hands in the pot!

  35. Anonymous says:

    ‘Among the proposals set out in the budget, government plans to sell sub-divisions on crown land at cost, use the Cayman Islands Development Bank for home loans and create transitional accommodation for the homeless.’

    So what do you do after the first wave and then the wave after that. You’re not fixing anything PACT, you’re just compounding the problem by not taking care of it directly. The previous Govt and now PACT continues the trend by ignoring people like Dart buying tracts of land and just sitting on it causing a shrinkage in the market and over inflated prices with the homes being built targeted to high net worth which developers are getting concessions on. No matter how you look at, the mid to low income families are being priced and bought out of their own country. Just grow some PACT and stop waltzing around the pond thinking you’re appeasing those whom the system is hamstringing when all you’re really doing is conforming to what you’re levered to and a bigger dollar; the PACT theater is nauseating. 🎭

  36. Anonymous says:

    perfect storm of booming property bubble market …ready to burst.
    lucky we have brainiacs like no-plan-pact in charge……zzzzzzzzzzzz

  37. Anonymous says:

    this crisis will explode and will include expats when tourism comes back 100%….you will then see a huge amount of rental properties switch to air-bnb’s.

  38. Anonymous says:

    no magic bullet to this problem. this is market economics and you can’t control it, without destroying the property market.
    my advice…don’t have kids if you can’t afford them.
    living simple and within your means.
    build high rise apartment complexes located in suitable locations.

    • Anonymous says:

      maybe the market needs to be intentionally destroyed.

      • Anonymous says:

        The unintended consequences of doing so would hurt the people you imagine that would help far worse than the people you’re trying to hurt.

      • Anonymous says:

        Tigger laugh..woooowooowoowoo

      • Anonymous says:

        So apparently you already forgot what happened in 2008 in the US and who suffered and who made out like bandits. I’ll give you a clue, because clearly you have none. The rich took a paper loss on their assets but used their liquid wealth to buy more and are now a lot richer. The middle classes took a paper loss on their assets but the cost of servicing their debt dropped, they’ve paid for it since through inflation and wage stagnation. Then there’s the poor who lost their jobs and their homes or, if they were waiting to buy one, lost access to credit so couldn’t anyway.

    • Anonymous says:

      Imagine what two 10 story residential towers at the Glass House site could do? Small, good quality – where government workers, office workers, retail workers and even healthcare workers could live. All within a walk of their workplace. An incredible location, and also efficient and effective in reducing urban sprawl and traffic.

      Government should do a JV with an established developer. Sell some and rent some, and have a sustainable product in the process.

    • Anonymous says:

      It might pay to engage in a bot of critical thinking before writing a comment. If every Caymanian took your advice in the context of home ownership: …”don’t have kids if you can’t afford them”, and waited until they could afford owning a home before having children, the Caymanian population would fall like a rock. Many would never have children. Others would opt for having fewer children than needed to sustain a healthy population growth. Then what?

  39. Anonymous says:

    How many minimum wage foreign nationals do we have to import to build these homes? Where are they going to live?

    Then, when the thousands of minimum wage foreign workers leave at the end of the present building boom, how many hundreds of unoccupied low income homes are there going to be? How will the Caymanian landlords pay their mortgages then?

    Aye. There’s the rub!

  40. Anonymous says:

    The NAU can’t rent anywhere because they don’t pay their damn bills. End of story.

  41. Anonymous says:

    This won’t end well.

  42. Anonymous says:

    Wasn’t this done before and nobody ived in them..

  43. Anonymous says:

    The NAU cannot find homes to rent partly because of years of them not paying rent on time. They are in fact partly responsible for this mess. Any accountability? No!

    And while I am at it, how many millions are they spending supporting foreign nationals while Caymanian children sleep in cars?

  44. Anonymous says:

    This isn’t going to solve anything. Those ‘lucky’ ones chosen to get these homes at a discount from their true market value (because of who they know) will only sell them to realise an immediate gain. Then those homes form part of the general housing stock at market value and are no longer available to buy at a discount.
    What idiot thought of this scheme?
    If they want affordable homes, they need to deal with the price gouging and inflation here to make the actual building and owning of homes affordable.
    Or create a large government rental stock so that qualified Caymanians can rent a starter home at an affordable rate to allow them to save a deposit to buy their own home.
    But building homes for a chosen few to purchase at a discounted rate is just another opportunity for corruption, who you know favoritism, and then those homes are now sold for profit in someones pocket.

    • Corruption is endemic says:

      Maybe with a kickback or three…

    • Anonymous says:

      This might be the best comment I’ve read all year.

      The property sector needs a complete overhaul from surveyors, to contractors, to real estate agents and yes the banks which is leading to this absurd property inflation. Their all in line with one another to line their own pockets and I’ve seen it first hand through the process from start to finish. If OfReg was ever created to do something worthy in this country this is their golden opportunity. Bring some form of regulation to the sector. Every Caymanian in this country should have the right to build or purchase their dream home at a realistic price if they’ve contributed to the country through multiple years of hardwork and not have to sell their souls for a 30+ year mortgage to the bank just to purchase a 4×4 “affordable home”.

      If we think it’s hard for us right now what will be the outlook for the next generation of Caymanians. This is the time to make real change for the future

    • Anonymous says:

      They can’t resell them before a long period of time, so what you are saying does not make sense

      • Anonymous says:

        The national housing trust fixed the price at which they can sell. This isn’t a free market at all

    • Anonymous says:

      Similar to the stamp duty waiver for first time Caymanian homeowners. The Government can say that the owner is not allowed to sell the property for at least 5 years or they have to pay a hefty penalty. Maybe even say 10 years. The only thing owners will be able to do is borrow against the equity for home repairs or upgrades in that time period.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.