The Sint Maarten Rapid Housing Sector Assessment:
~ 5 KEYS TO IMPROVING LIVING CONDITIONS ON SINT MAARTEN ~
Sint Maarten Rapid Housing Sector Assessment
Constrained land market
High cost of construction
Lack of access to finance
Informal market, little data
Social rental housing
FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A MORE ACCESSIBLE HOUSING MARKET
study
- Build affordable housing To fully realize its role as the engine for social housing development in Sint Maarten, SMHDF needs institutional strengthening, including financial and professional resources to set itself back onto sustainable footing. At the same time, the government could incentivize the private sector to invest in more affordable options. Developers on Sint Maarten generally focus on the luxury housing segment, despite the great demand for affordable housing. Incentives such as expediting permitting processes, making land prices more favorable for constructing affordable housing, and abating turnover tax for low-cost units could contribute to further development of affordable housing. In conjunction with a suite of policy and regulatory improvements, activation of the Mortgage Guarantee Fund could help enable modest-income households to access a mortgage loan.
- Formalize the rental market Many countries, including Chile, the United States, and the United Kingdom, have established rental voucher programs to temporarily help low-income households pay the rent on private market-rate units. Such a program could be established in Sint Maarten as well. For example, Chile’s program targets moderate-income young families and offers a flat-rate, time-limited subsidy, which simplifies program administration. In parallel, incentives to formalize the rental market could be made, such as a grant program that could be offered to small-scale landlords to bring their units up to resilient building standards in exchange for registering their properties. Formal rental contracts protect both landlords and tenants.
- Support vulnerable households A variety of tools can be developed to help low-income households improve their homes and render them less vulnerable. The government could introduce subsidies for low-income households to improve their living conditions and the resilience of their homes to natural disasters. Also, the upgrading of shantytowns could be supported and stimulated by bringing adequate services and improved housing to those who are most vulnerable.
- Strengthen housing policies and programs More effective land policies need to be developed. An inventory of public and private lands needs to be conducted, land rents need to be updated and collected, and a vacant land tax introduced. The Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment & Infrastructure (VROMI) requires greater technical capacity to do so. In particular, the Domain Affairs department, which oversees 3,000 land parcels under long-term leases, with a small number of staff. Speed and efficiency in the building permitting process could be significantly improved through digitization. The collection of housing data, as well as additional expertise to analyze it, could inform the preparation of an effective and dynamic housing strategy for the country.
- Involve the community in defining a housing strategy Sint Maarten would benefit from a formal mechanism for community consultation and participation regarding housing issues, which does not currently exist. Such mechanisms are needed to keep the community informed and involved in important decisions, as well as to sensitize people to key topics such as the benefits of resilient construction methods, higher density housing, and housing insurance.
here
https://www.sintmaartenrecovery.org/node/126
