NHT to construct houses costing no more than $14 million says Holness

In a bid to make housing more affordable for more Jamaicans, the National Housing Trust (NHT) will no longer construct houses costing more than $14 million.

The Government’s policy position was announced on Thursday by Prime Minister Andrew Holness during his contribution to the 2025/26 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives.

It also comes years after the Government and the NHT received backlash in 2021 for the pricey Ruthven Towers units constructed in New Kingston, and which were widely criticised as being against the NHT’s mandate to provide affordable housing to its contributors.

Initially priced at between $16 million and $22 million, the 86 one and two-bedroom units were sold for between $27.7 and $28.9 million for a one-bedroom apartment and $35 and $37.7 million for a two-bedroom apartment.

On Thursday, the prime minister said “each time we [the Government] increase the loan limit, we notice an increase in the price of houses, it is the most frustrating thing”.

“Yes, it is a matter of economics when you increase [the loan limit] it affects the demand, more people are chasing houses than there are houses in the market; the competitive system is going to increase the price,” he added.

“So what we’ve done is to give a greater loan limit for houses that are going at what we call the affordable price point. The affordable price point for the NHT is $14 million. In fact, we have given a policy directive to the NHT that all their resources should now be directed at producing houses that are around this price point,” he continued.

Declaring that the NHT will not get involved in any new development of houses above $14 million, the prime minister acknowledged that the houses will not always be constructed at that figure. “But you have to be in that target range because the truth is that the real housing crisis is in the low income and affordable housing market”.