High hopes for NHC tenants

Thousands of National Housing Corporation tenants who are still awaiting the free transfer of ownership under the Government’s divestment programme, could be in for some good news very soon.

Project Coordinator with the NHC, Roger Ward,  gave an update on the process, during the Public Affairs Department’s “One-On-One,” Programme, carried on CBC TV 8 on Sunday.

Ward says 3074 tenants qualified under the programme, but so far only 500 of them have received their conveyances. This he notes is due to some legal challenges related to improvements they have made to their homes over the years. He however adds that all of the tenants who qualified have been living rent-free in the interim.

Mr. Ward explains the specific legal challenge that has delayed the transfers for the majority of the tenants who qualified. As a result, he says the Corporation is now at a stage where they are considering conveying the units through an act of Parliament, to avoid infringing the planning regulations. He says they recently prepared a paper which is intended to go to Cabinet in the next few weeks, and once approved it would go before Parliament to facilitate the transfer of the remaining 70 per cent of the units.

 It is not all good news however, as the NHC is also facing a significant issue of arrears, with the current amount owed to the Corporation by delinquent tenants running at approximately 11 million dollars across. Noting the Corporation will no longer be able to draw from central government in the future, he says from this month they will be intensifying efforts to recoup the monies owed.

In acknowledging the social role of the NHC, he says part of the process will involve means testing to help determine those who can pay, those who are genuinely experiencing difficulty, and those who simply refuse to pay.

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