Housing authority offers conditional 50% discount on house lots for republic jubilee

The Central Housing & Planning Authority (CH&PA) on Friday announced that it will be offering a 50 per cent discount on house lots as part of the commemorative activities for the country’s 50th republic anniversary.

This announcement was made by the Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility of Housing Annette Ferguson, who told a press conference that the offer is applicable to allocations made by the authority during the period from October 1st, 2019 to February 29th, 2020.  “The offer applies only to those who were allocated land for residential purposes in housing schemes that were either established or regularised by CH&PA,” the minister said as she noted that the initiative is in keeping with the authority’s effort to make housing affordable for all Guyanese. The promotion starts on March 1st and will conclude on May 26th.

Ferguson told the conference that the CH&PA has been trying to address the issue of low occupancy rates in housing schemes throughout the country. She further lauded the initiative as one that can “open the door” for applicants to build their dream homes within a short period of time.  While stating that approximately 1,000 home owners will benefit from the discount, she added that the authority had set in place systems to allow the potential house lot owners to complete their payments within a timely manner. “It must be noted that successful applicants, inclusive of those allocated a plot of land between October 1st 2019 to February 29th 2020, costing 2.5 million Guyana dollars or less will have to meet certain strict prerequisites,” she said, while adding that it includes persons who were allotted plots of land who have already paid at least 50 per cent of the cost of the land between October 2019 and February 2020.

It also included persons who will be able to complete payments for the house lots during the duration of the promotion [March to May].

It was noted that the Ministry will absorb the cost of the other 50 per cent and the chief executive officer of the CH&PA stated that the initiative will cost the authority some $90 million. He noted that there are several benefits to be derived from this offer, including addressing the issue of low occupancy.