More focus on youths in housing sector – Sharpe-Patterson

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A section of a housing scheme, East Bank Demerara, Guyana
A section of a housing scheme, East Bank Demerara, Guyana

Young people will be better positioned to plan their lives as the new Minister with responsibility for housing, Valerie Sharpe-Patterson has announced a change in criteria for homeownership.

The new measure will ensure young people have a better opportunity to own a home. Under the previous system, as part of dealing with the national housing backlog, preference was on delivering houses, lots and titles to married couples or single parents.

“I would like to see some of our young people owning their own home. We have a lot of young working people, who can afford to own their own homes, and they are told all kinds of things: you have to be married, you have to have children. Why would I say to a young woman ‘before you own a home, you must have two children’, what am I encouraging? That is nonsense and I would like to see that removed,” Minister Sharpe-Patterson said in a recent interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA.)

The new Minister is also keen on having the input of housing developers and banks, as part of this focus of providing affordable housing to young people.

“We have a lot of home developers across the country, and I would like to see in every region (where it is possible) for us to have that kind of facilities, where these developers can make the homes available to young people at an affordable price. We have the banks and building societies coming on board and offering [mortgages]. These banks are very liquid; they have monies available and (are) offering to our young people affordable mortgages, within their reach, that they can own their own home,” she explained.

The Minister added that it would be a big plus for youths if at the end of this year, in every region, there were a number young people who could turn their keys in their own doors.

Youths in the national development process are critical to a country’s long-term survival. Cognisant of this, the coalition Government has been looking for avenues to assist their growth. To this end, it has reviewed its various development programmes with a view of enhancing and promoting new initiatives for youths’ social and economic advancement.

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