Young borrowers chase expensive NHT Ruthven apartments

The National Housing Trust has published the names of 80 shortlisted applicants for the controversial Ruthven Towers apartment complex in New Kingston, 13 of whom are individuals between the ages of 25 and 35 years.

Another eight are applicants who could secure an apartment on the 86-unit complex with the help of points assigned to them by their parents.

NHT has only listed the names of 80 applicants for the 86 units, but within the notice in which it announced the application results, said a few units have been reserved for public-sector workers.

The application results, which were released on Sunday, have again stirred up fresh discussions around the Ruthven Towers apartment units, which are being marketed at $27.7 million for a ground-floor one-bedroom unit, going up to $38.7 million for a two-bedroom unit on the eighth floor.

The prices more than double the amount an individual would typically pay for housing units built by the NHT. But the housing trust has defended the high prices, citing skyrocketing construction material costs, the development’s location and its access to amenities.

It further stated that the units are targeted at the top end of the market, a segment it rarely caters to.

The NHT began accepting applications for Ruthven Towers on November 12 through to November 16. The properties are being offered on the open market and through NHT’s Priority Index Entitlement (PIE) System, which is the selection system used by the NHT to award scheme loans to eligible contributors.

Under PIE selection, the NHT takes into consideration whether the applicant lives or works in the parish where the development is located and also shortlists individuals based on points derived from their weekly contributions and current income.

Thirty-seven individuals are expected to be interviewed in short order under the PIE system. All have NHT points ranging from 374 to 950.

It is expected that the 13 young adults of the 37 selected under the PIE system would have been contributing to the scheme for at least five years.

The NHT did not specify whether any the 43 people that are to be interviewed for the purchase of a unit on the open market fall into the age group 25 to 35 years, which means that the number of persons selected to purchase units within that age group could be higher.

Open-market purchases can be jointly financed by the NHT and another lending institution.

“Should apartments become unavailable due to the withdrawal of any of the following selectees, the next qualified person(s) from the original list of eligible applicants will be notified and invited for interviews,” the NHT said in the public notice.

The NHT did not respond up to press time to questions sent by the Financial Gleaner on the development, including the number of applications it received for Ruthven Towers.

On announcement of the prices for the Ruthven Towers development last month, there were concerns as to whether the NHT would get enough applications for the units, largely from the sluggish sales it had experienced on the Paddington Terrace development in 2012, and before that, a development on Salisbury Avenue.

At the time, the NHT said it was not considering doing more developments for that segment of the market, at least in the short term.

But recently, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has requested that the NHT reconsider its participation in these high-priced developments even though admitting that it may be a difficult decision as to whether the Trust should move ahead with any such further development at all.

For now, plans to develop phase two of the Ruthven Towers complex have been put on hold. That element of the project would have seen the construction of another 234 residential units on the 5.71-acre property.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com