Six hundred subsidies will be available soon for low income householders to repair their homes.

The funding is being provided at a cost of BDS$6 million, through the Affordable Housing Component, a module of the Housing and Neighbourhood Upgrading Programme (HNUP), of the Ministry of Housing and Lands.

The grant of a maximum of $10,000 or 70 per cent of total project costs is intended to allow low income families to undertake minor repairs or renovations to their homes, including tiling, cabinetry, electrical or plumbing works.

Eligible persons must be citizens of Barbados, with a monthly income of $2666 or weekly earnings of $667, have never benefited from Government housing assistance, own the house to be improved, and should be able to secure the additional 30 per cent of costs required to finance the renovations.?? Applications will be entered into the Beneficiary Selection System, for final selection of successful applicants.

Interested persons should obtain the necessary documentation for the application process in advance.?? Applicants will be required to submit?? a certified job letter; a current payslip; proof of ownership of the house and/or land; permission from the land owner to improve the house (for persons who own their house but rent land, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, NULL, NULL, 0); an estimate of works to be undertaken (including material and labour costs, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, ‘, NULL, NULL, 0);

a bank statement covering three months), an approved letter from a financial institution regarding the additional funding required for the project; Barbados ID numbers of all householders; and the birth dates of all household members.

This early notice is designed to give applicants adequate time to complete all of the preparatory work, so that when forms become available on May 10, they will be able to submit within the stipulated time period. Applicants should, therefore immediately begin to collect an estimate of works to be undertaken, from their builders, and if a loan is required, to obtain such information from the lending institution.

Application packages and brochures will be available during the week of May 10 to 14, from the Customer Service Department of the National Housing Corporation, Country Road, St. Michael; the Oistins, Speightstown, Holetown and General Post Offices; the Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union, Belmont Road, St. Michael; and the City of Bridgetown Credit Union in Bridgetown.????

The deadline for applications is Saturday, May 29, 2010 and prospective applicants may call the Ministry of Housing and Lands at 620-3620.

The HNUP, an infrastructural development pilot project for low-income neighbourhoods, was launched in October last year. The main objectives of the BDS $80 million programme, funded by the Government and the Inter-American Development Bank, include the upgrading, redevelopment and revitalisation of select low income communities and the provision of solutions to the challenge of affordable housing and incremental home construction.

lbayley@barbados.gov.bb

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