Housing and You…Protection for our senior citizens

Jun 29, 2014 News

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By Leonard Gildarie

Last week’s article on Brazil’s large scale programme to build hundreds of thousands

of affordable homes to alleviate poverty among its citizens has struck a chord among many.
The idea of owning a home that does not have to cost an arm and leg is one that is a pretty attractive prospect – more so one that costs less than $4M.
Government, through the Central Housing and Planning Authority, has been experimenting with those little Core Homes, an open concept plan that sells less than $2M, and is for those families that are considered to be “vulnerable”. It has also been experimenting with other turn-key homes at Eccles, Providence and Herstelling. These are more expensive.
However, a number of readers last week indicated that there is a major problem. There is very little protection for senior citizens. I must stress that I am no expert on these topics. As a journalist, my work centres on lots of research. The trick is ensuring that those sources of information are credible. So I have been checking various sources and have come up with a few observations. Again, I would love some feed-back. I am going to take the gloves off on this one and I expect some attacks.
There is very little protection for our seniors. The pension that they receive each month is negligible, and I am being polite, and despite a number of relief measures like water and electricity subsidies, it has been tough going for our grandfathers and grandmothers.
My electricity bill for some inexplicable reason has gone up to $19,000 monthly. I used to pay $14,000. Of course, GPL will have to, next week, explain to me how this happened, because nothing has changed for me in terms of my appliances.
Most seniors I know pay about $5,000 average per month. A bag of Karibee rice, three gallons, is about $1,700. Need I go on? It is impossible to live on that. We don’t have food stamps and other relief measures being offered by the more developed countries.
There are basically two kinds of pension being offered in Guyana…Old Age and NIS.
I know some old sugar workers, because of NIS contributions who are collecting over $50,000 monthly from NIS and another $10,000-plus from the Old Age Pension offered by the Ministry of Human Services.  But those are a few.
A lot of folks, because they were either farmers or self-employed, never bothered with NIS payments. They are stuck with a measly $10,000 monthly.
It is a fact that many of our seniors are living with their children or dependent on someone for help, either in Guyana or from overseas. But there seem to be quite a few who are falling through the cracks. There are a number of what are commonly known as “old people homes”. The Palms, on Brickdam, is one of them. I am not sure whether we have them in Berbice or Essequibo.
What will be interesting to know is whether the Ministry or relevant authorities have any statistics on how many seniors are out there who have been abandoned by their children or have no one and may need help. I have a few friends who are without families and have signaled their intentions to check into a home when they retire. It would be a fact that Guyana would have limited space in terms of beds. It is also a fact that many seniors own their home.
I was looking at a television programme recently when I saw something on “reverse mortgages”. I gathered as much that is a programme targeting seniors in the US. So I did some research.
A reverse mortgage is a special type of home loan that lets you convert a portion of the equity in your home into cash. The equity that you built up over years of making mortgage payments can be paid to you.  However, unlike a traditional home equity loan or second mortgage, you do not have to repay the loan until the borrowers no longer use the home as their principal residence or fail to meet the obligations of the mortgage.  You can also use the programme to purchase a primary residence.
Of course, there are requirements. You have to be 62 or older, own your home outright, or have a low mortgage balance that can be paid off at closing, with proceeds from the reverse loan. The financial resources must be used to pay ongoing property charges including taxes and insurance, and you must live in the home.
The differences between a reverse mortgage and a home loan is that with the latter, borrowers must make monthly payments on the principal and interest.  A reverse mortgage is different, because it pays you – there are no monthly principal and interest payments.  With a reverse mortgage, you are required to pay real estate taxes, utilities, and hazard and flood insurance premiums.
When the home is sold or no longer used as a primary residence, the cash, interest, and other finance charges must be repaid.  All proceeds beyond the amount owed belong to your spouse or estate.  This means any remaining equity can be transferred to heirs.  No debt is passed along to the estate or heirs.
Now again, like the example of Brazil’s housing programme last week, I am not advocating that we go along that line. We could, however, look into the possibilities of using a subsidized model…you can call it a public/private partnership…the state can build a few homes, place them in strategic locations across the country and even run them like a business.
Most of the seniors receive a pension. It can be used to pay for the maintenance of the facility. Of course, Government will have to help pay something.  I am just saying….let’s think out of the box. I am worried in the whole scheme of things, we don’t overlook our seniors. It is not a question on money…we have that.
Enjoy the week and don’t forget to continue sending your comments to [email protected] or call 2258473.

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