The Ministry of Housing and Water is creating a comprehensive national housing policy to fulfill its pledge of ensuring that every Guyanese family has access to homeownership.
Collin Croal, the Minister of Housing and Water, shared this update during the ministry’s end-of-year press conference on Friday.
“This is to ensure that we can raise the level of standard of living for our people. That housing policy, as I speak, is to ensure that persons are able to have safe, affordable, and adequate housing in various communities that are serviced by the relevant infrastructure. That is what we want to achieve,” Minister Croal stated.
The Minister also disclosed that a consultant is currently drafting the new housing policy, which is expected to be submitted to the ministry next week. Following this, the policy will be presented to the Cabinet for approval.
“Once we have that approval to move onwards to the national level, it will be adopted at the parliamentary level,” he added.
The proposed housing policy will include a review of existing programs, policies, and processes currently in place through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA).
Stakeholder consultations have already been conducted, with feedback and needs assessments being compiled to help shape the policy.
Additionally, the government is progressing on another crucial initiative — the Strategy for Informal Settlement Upgrading and Prevention. This strategy aims to advance regularization efforts and address squatting across the country.
The first phase of the strategy has been completed and is scheduled to be presented to Cabinet later this month. This phase involved a comprehensive analysis, with plans to pilot the strategy in Region Three before expanding it to other regions. A consultant is working alongside the ministry to finalize this policy.