Are you a prospective home owner and need a loan to construct or complete your house? Would you like to buy a plot of land? Is your house in need of repairs? Then, the Loans Department of the National Housing Corporation (NHC) can help you with all of this and more.
That is the welcome news from the man in charge of the loans portfolio of the state owned, NHC, Rodney Corbin. As Loans Administrator, he is responsible for overseeing and checking for the completeness of loan applications, and ensuring that the each loan is a viable one.
In outlining the mandate of the NHC, Mr. Corbin explained that the Corporation was seeking, with its available resources, to meet the housing requirements of those deserving applicants. “We cater to anyone between the ages of 18 and 60, with a salary limit of $883.46 weekly, or by extension, $3,828.32 monthly. We can provide you with a loan to do just about anything related to housing.”
Over the recent past, it has certainly become easier to source loans from the NHC, in that the process of approval is a lot simpler and faster. Mr. Corbin confirmed that “applications are processed in short time, and the NHC. alsocaters to walk-in clients.”
Those documents which are required when making application for a loan include a job letter and recent pay slip, an estimate of the project, the land owner’s permission, or title deeds,Town and Country Planning’s approval, an individual lot plan, a passport size photo, a financial statement, proof of house ownership (where applicable) and an agreement for sale.
Increases in building costs have seen the previous loan limit of $50,000.00 rise to $100,000.00 for legal mortgages – a combination of chattel, wall and land ownership; whereas the maximum amount lent for the building of chattel dwellings is now $80,000.00. There are also plans to increase the loan limit for legal mortgages to $175,000.00.
A big plus for clients is that the NHC’s interest rates have remained stable – six percent for first-time home owners and nine percent for long-term mortgages.
The NHC grants loans for all repairs, extensions, alterations, house construction/completion and the purchase of land (up to a maximum of $30, 000.00, with plans afoot to increase this amount) and houses. Successful applicants purchasing land or a house will have their loans advanced in full. Persons who are constructing or completing a house will have their loans advanced in installments, and will be required to produce bills and receipts for materials and labour, after each installment. The maximum repayment period for chattel mortgages is 20 years, whereas legal mortgagees are allowed up to 40 years.
According to Mr. Corbin, “in every aspect of business, the bottom-line is saving that extra dollar.
And, while other agencies charge commitment fees, application fees, valuation fees and attorney fees, etc., the NHC absorbs all of these costs.”
He is therefore encouraging those working class persons who are in need of loans, to apply to the NHC “We take the interest of the client at heart” he noted. For the past five years the NHC has lent an average of $4 million each year, with $4.3 million being disbursed last year.