Over 60,000 visited Building Expo

Jul 09, 2013 News

– Tremendous response for Housing Ministry Booth,
– turn key homes

By Rabindra Rooplall
More than 60,000 persons visited the fourth International Building Expo over the three days that concluded Sunday night, according to figures released by the Ministry of Housing.
Minister of Housing Irfaan Ali underscored that the building expo 2013 was a huge success especially for the Turn-Key Homes Project which had an overwhelming turnout. For the first day, 18,000 persons visited; the second 20,000 and the final day 23,000.

A section of the gathering at the Building Expo

Thousands showed interest in the $14M and $19M homes being built for young professionals.
At the end of this year’s International Building Expo, 1,000 potential homeowners are expected to secure their house lots having accessed financing from financial institutions to erect their dream homes.
During the Building Expo, people had the opportunity to fill in their applications. An assessment was done to determine the eligibility of the applicant to acquire their desired home. If they were not able to render cash payments, they were referred to the banks, or New Building Society (NBS), to obtain mortgage financing.
The successful allottee would inspect the home and enter into an agreement of sale and sign papers for the title/transport. These will later be forwarded to the bank. The applicant will also have to submit a letter of satisfaction to the bank. Upon the completion of its own process, the bank or NBS will forward a check to Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) for the ‘turn-key’ home.
Overall $4.5B has been invested in infrastructure works and almost $6B has in land acquisition. This year, Minister Ali pledged that another $4B will be injected for development along the East Bank Demerara.
Ministry officials noted that many people are moving away from buying land alone and seem more interested in purchasing a plot with a house already built.
Government announced its largest housing programme recently. That project will see it undertaking the construction of 1000 ‘turn-key’ homes at a new scheme in Providence, East Bank Demerara. It was also announced that a deal is being worked out with furniture giant, Courts Guyana, in another partnership programme to meet the growing demand for these ready-done homes.
The homes will come in two models – a 20 feet x 30 feet, two-bedroom structure for $4.9M and a three-bedroom, about 1000 square feet, for around $9M.
Already, Government has built a number of turn-key homes and selling the smaller units for under $5M. It is also selling the three-bedroom Florida-style ones at Eccles for just under $14M, complete with lands.
Also engaging the attention of visitors to the exposition was Silica City, a new housing development project set to come on stream further inland along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway. Speaking at the launch of Building Expo 2013 at the Princess International Hotel, Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali had said that Silica City would be the first real initiative that will take industry, commerce and residential housing to higher grounds.
He explained that this is necessary not only because of the rising sea level, but also because of the availability of land.
Guyana is at a defining moment in its history when a large number of citizens are becoming home owners. Partnerships with the financial institutions have seen more low income earners having access to low cost mortgages to purchase or construct their homes.

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