Government will host its first Colloquium on Transforming the Land Transaction Process in Barbados to investigate and solve issues surrounding land transactions, conveyances, and other hindrances that prevent Barbadians from owning a home or plot of land. These issues may also hinder investments into the housing sector.
It represents a serious effort by government to ensure that it fulfills the mandate of providing affordable housing to approximately 10,000 householders over a five-year period, as well as modernising its operations and improving the ease of doing business.
The colloquium will be held on Friday, October 11, 2024, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Two Mile Hill, St. Michael, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., under the auspices of the Ministry of Housing, Lands and Maintenance.
Approximately 150 participants, including members of the public, are expected to attend the event, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and attended by other Cabinet Ministers and senior government officials.
Following the opening session, industry experts drawn from the public and private sectors will get down to business in earnest as they present on several topics, including survey plans; planning permissions; the mortgage process; digital conveyancing with the electronic filing of documents and digital signatures; title searches; deed conveyancing; and legislative amendments.
There will be question and answer sessions after each presentation for those in attendance. Questions can also be submitted to colloquium@housing.gov.bb.
At the end of the discussion, it is expected that there will be a clearer picture of the way forward, and a commitment from all stakeholders to remove the bottlenecks on land transactions for investors and the homeownership journey for many Barbadians.