The Issues With The National Housing Trust (NHT)

The National Housing Trust (NHT) was established in the belief that homeownership could be facilitated by a public mortgage body that built homes and subsidised the loans to purchase them. The NHT is funded by a “tax” on formal employment equal to five percent of wages, which is to benefit the most vulnerable in society. However, based on the 2016 publication by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI), it seems that NHT requires far less money than it currently receives and that middle and upper-income contributors have received more mortgages than those in the lower income groups. The podcast spoke to the executive director of CAPRI, Dr. Damien King, on the issues of NHT and some of the Institute's recommendations for a more equal and equitable function of NHT.