Use housing to push economic development - Hayden Cater

There is more concern emerging that sufficient attention is not being given to housing when developments are being planned across the island.

This time, the concern has come from career banker and economist Maureen Hayden Cater, who is calling for better planning, particularly for housing in developing areas.

Addressing the 50th annual general meeting of the Realtors Association of Jamaica (RAJ), Hayden Cater, an executive at the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), argued that in too many instances, investment projects were being pursued in isolation of housing needs.

She added that housing can contribute strongly to the economy, but in order to achieve that, more robust planning is needed.

"In Jamaica, housing development continues to take place in isolation of our economic thrusts when it needs to be responsive to our main economic initiatives," said Hayden Cater as she pointed to issues in some tourism areas where unplanned development led to the rise and expansion of informal settlements, usually established by migrants seeking economic benefits from emerging investments.

Hayden Cater noted that the settlements, in some instances, placed pressure on the carrying capacity of the areas and diminished the value of prime real estate in their vicinity.

"As a country, we need to be mindful that we are building and delivering housing solutions in the right places and of the right type to meet the realistic needs of people.

"Housing solutions must be carefully linked to the right economic outcomes so that in the final analysis, the sustainability of those same economic initiatives we are pursuing are certain and the prosperity we hope to gain from them emerges," said Hayden Cater

She urged the RAJ to "use its power to develop a different and better Jamaica, where there is harmony between sustainable development and investment".

Pointing to economic data to support her point, the JNBS executive said there was room for Jamaica to use its housing demand of some 15,000 units annually, as an economic tool towards prosperity.

ECONOMIC STIMULUS

Hayden Cater said that with some amount of creativity, housing demand can be used to stimulate the economy, providing direct benefits through construction and opportunities for the real estate and financial sector through property sales, mortgages and other financing, but better synergies were needed to realise a more cohesive planning process.

She said parish councils also have a big role to play in the development process and charged that they must be infused with the right vision to support planning.

"There is a sense that our parish councils are focused on collecting taxes, fees and rehabilitating infrastructure, which are issues they must indeed deal with," said Hayden Cater.

"However, there is not enough evidence of what the visions for our parishes are and how the councils will ensure the best use of parish resources for economic and social gain."

Within that context, she also spoke to the need to replace the more than 100-year-old Building Code, noting that the updated legislation continues to face delays.

Hayden Cater urged the realtors to identify these issues as obstacles to their industry's development and to lobby to address them even as they tackle other threats to the industry.

"As realtors, this is the kind of environment that will allow our housing sector to thrive. Therefore, we must demand more from those integral to the planning process and maintain vested interest in the development plans for our parishes, cities, towns and communities, so that in the end, we will have properties which can consistently satisfy the demand for housing and other uses," said Hayden Cater.