THE Housing Development Corporation (HDC) is inviting private finance and construction expertise to partner with it to build housing units to address the current demand of almost 200,000 housing units registered at the HDC.
HDC managing director Jayselle Mc Farlane revealed this at a seminar on Wednesday at Government Campus Plaza, Port of Spain.
The HDC hosted financiers, builders and developers, with the aim of forming public-private partnerships (PPP) – at the event, titled The Future of Housing: Leveraging Partnerships, Building Ownership.
Mc Farlane said the HDC could not satisfy demand, amid an ever-widening gap between supply and demand.
"At the last count the HDC had approximately 200,000 applications for housing on its live database."
The demand included single-family dwelling-houses, apartments/condominiums and rent-to-own and licence-to-occupy arrangements at the lower end of the economic scale.
Demand arose throughout TT, she said, but 65 per cent of demand lay in five areas – Tunapuna/Piarco, Chaguanas, San Fernando, Arima and Diego Martin.
Some 75 per cent of HDC applicants were aged 26-55, while 23 per cent were below 35.
"The simple point being made here is that there is an almost inexhaustible demand for government housing which the HDC on its own cannot satisfy.
"We are therefore seeking innovative ways to satisfy this demand by building more strategic partnerships with the business community."
Mc Farlane said the HDC might be able to supply or buy land for its private-builder partners.
"There is a huge market for housing solutions into which your organisations can easily tap.
"Today the HDC is offering you the potential to partner with us to provide 196,592 housing solutions, and in doing so, leave a legacy, both in terms of your corporate social responsibility, but more so in terms of your faith in the people of Trinidad and Tobago."
Planning Minister Pennelope Beckles touted the benefits new housing could bring.
"Housing is a valuable element of economic, social and civic development. While housing investment is a major economic driver globally and here in TT, the relationship between housing-related activities and the achievement of broader socio-economic development goals cannot be understated.
"The construction and usage of suitable housing boosts economic development through its impact on employment, savings, investment, and labour productivity."
Beckles spoke of new, relaxed town planning standards in Port of Spain's key suburbs, which facilitated residential and commercial development. The new measures included higher bedroom densities, smaller lot sizes, greater allowances for building heights and the number of floors, increased maximum building coverage for high-density residential areas and bigger floor area ratios.
"Site coverage, which determines the maximum area of a site which may be covered by a building, together with all other paved surfaces, is also being addressed for proper landscaping, as well as adequate natural drainage, which helps to m
