Transferring ownership of National Housing Corporation (NHC) terrace units to long-standing tenants does not mean Government’s job is finished, says Opposition Senator Ryan Walters.
Noting that successive administrations have pursued that objective, the Democratic Labour Party spokesman said the authorities also needed to fix three other “critical issues” within NHC housing areas – excessive rents, unoccupied units and poor maintenance.
Walters suggested that the rental of NHC units needed regulating considering that some people were being charged $1 000 a month to reside in these homes.
He was speaking during debate in the Senate yesterday on the State (Acquisition and Vesting of Property) (No. 2) Bill, 2026.
Walters said there were “a lot of persons . . . that are now renting these units from persons that originally lived in the units or owned the units, and the rents that they have to pay are very excessive. That in itself needs regulation because of the purpose and intent of those homes.
“I don’t think it is fair for somebody living in those units to be paying $1 000 a month in rent. I’ve been to homes and persons [are] saying that they are paying $250 a week to be situated in those homes,” he said.
Walters also said that at a time when the demand for homes was high, NHC housing units should not be unoccupied. He added that poor maintenance of the units was another problem.
He argued that while the NHC attributed limited maintenance to some tenants owing it $20 million, there were many people who paid their rent in full and whose units needed repairs, while there were others who “had to make a decision between paying rent or making the necessary repairs to be comfortable”. ( SC)