The Ministry of Housing is piloting a foundation programme in Lenora and Meten-Meer-Zorg, aimed at helping beneficiaries prepare for the installation of prefabricated and modular homes as the President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali-led Administration moves to accelerate its 40,000-house housing programme.
Speaking on the Guyana Dialogue, Minister of Housing Collin Croal said the initiative is designed to address one of the major challenges faced by beneficiaries.
He explained it will meet the upfront cost of preparing a foundation while also creating a faster and more reliable pathway to homeownership.
Under the programme, the government is working with suppliers and contractors to aid with the casting of concrete foundations, allowing beneficiaries to have prefab homes installed on the prepared structures.
The minister explained that the approach will allow beneficiaries to combine government assistance with private financing and other available housing programmes.
“They bring the prefab house, and they just place it there based on the foundation that you have. So, you can call it a hybrid process,” Minister Croal explained.
Minister Croal said the pilot has already received positive responses, with the project team currently engaging suppliers for the materials and services required for foundation construction.
The initiative forms part of a broader strategy to increase the pace of housing construction, with government engaging major contractors to deliver homes across several categories, including low-income, middle-income, young professional, townhouse and social housing options.
According to Minister Croal, prefabricated and modular construction will be critical to achieving the scale required under the government’s 40,000-house commitment, as the technology allows homes to be constructed and installed more quickly than traditional methods.
Also, the minister said the groundwork currently being undertaken will begin to translate into visible housing developments by the end of this year, with construction expected to accelerate significantly over the next four years.
The foundation programme complements other measures being pursued by the ministry to make homeownership more accessible, including improved mortgage financing, housing subsidies and the planned rollout of a portal linking screened beneficiaries with approved contractors and financial institutions.