Building your home? (Low-cost housing and the Int’l Building Expo)

Jul 17, 2011 News

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By Leonard Gildarie

Everybody wants a good deal…whether you are shopping for a TV, groceries, a car or even a building, or simply renovating your home. And there are good deals and savings to be made…if you take the time out to look. It is no secret that housewives, especially, would buy toilet paper at one supermarket or grocer and then travel to another village or section of the town to buy bath soap and detergent.
This month-end, for the second year in a row, the Ministry of Housing will be hosting its International Building Expo, an event designed to allow stakeholders – especially new land allottees – to meet, examine new materials, and discuss how best to build.
The event, again to be staged at the National Stadium at Providence, has already seen more than 100 businesses, including hardware suppliers, banks, electrical and construction companies and insurance firms, signing up. And booth spaces are going fast, with only a few remaining – evidence that businesses are cognizant that the sector is hugely profitable. Last year, around 65 booths were up.
With thousands of Guyanese suddenly owning a piece of land, it is no secret that the challenges have been uphill for government. One of the burning questions facing the administration was whether to issue the houselots or wait until there was enough money for the infrastructure to be developed. But a huge demand for housing won the argument over. This resulted in many of the new housing schemes waiting for years before electricity, water and roads are put in place.
Among the most glaring of the problems that manifested itself was the fallout from greedy contractors and ignorant new houselot owners. Shoddy work, scams by lumber yards and complicity, all played a major role in leaving many homes half-completed.
It will never be easy for the housing ministry – now daily dealing with as much as 300 visitors – to handle that volume of work.
The inaugural expo, last August, had some interesting features that peaked my interest. It was a time that I was preparing to build my first home. There were models of three “Core” homes…simple structures that included two bedrooms and cost not more than $1.5M, in the first instance.
While this year there will be no life-size models of these homes, according to Housing Minister Irfaan Ali and the expo’s coordinator, Taslim Baksh, there will be smaller, table-top ones, which will afford low income families the possibility of using the “Core” homes as their choice and later upgrading.
The reality is that many families still remain unqualified for mortgages. The obvious alternative is finding ways to build a basic, low-cost structure. The “Core” homes, in which government lends assistance for a number of these families, was designed to partially meet this gap.
Another interesting thing we witnessed at the expo last year – that will again feature – is the demonstration of proper applications of key building materials, such as the popular trowel-tex (an alternative to oil-based paint), that I believe is a revolution and will be among the most popular of finishing materials in years to come.
I saw TCL last year showing visitors how to mix cement. The banks also signed up new applications for mortgages. I saw the wooden windows by a prominent company being displayed and fell in love with it. I bought a set when my home was under construction. Also on display last year was the pavers – a brick-like material that is highly attractive and easy to design that walkway or driveway.
While last year I would have loved to see more advice on how to cut costs and building low-cost homes, this year will see more of these issues being addressed.
According to Minister Ali, the Ministry’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) will be having its own booth with employees on hand to answer questions.
This year, also, one new hardware company is expected to introduce pinewood which is hugely popular, especially in North America, for framing homes. A model is currently under construction at the stadium.
So what should you, as a new houselot owner, look for at the expo?
If you are building in the near future, you would want to immediately compare prices of materials. Examine the different options and maybe new technologies as well as construction methods that could ultimately save you precious dollars. Talk to the different banks about mortgages…conditions and requirements may vary from institution to institution. The different kinds of windows from the sash to louvres and the wooden ones should also be examined.
While there will be distractions likes the food stalls, use the opportunity to visit the booths that are hosting demonstrations. Collect as many brochures as possible. There may be opportunities to ask for discounts…always ask for discounts. Ask questions on the best construction methods.
For me, the presence of the housing officials should also be an opportunity to lodge your complaints and even grill them!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and keep those emails coming at [email protected] or call us at 225-8491.

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