Jamaica’s two main political parties are promising to deliver thousands of houses over the next five years amid a dogfight for Jamaica House.
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), in its manifesto, released late Sunday during a mass rally in Sam Sharpe Square, said it intends to deliver 60,000 housing solutions if it forms the next government, while the People’s National Party (PNP) said it will deliver 50,000 houses in its manifesto released two weeks ago at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
“When you look in our manifesto, we give a commitment to build 60,000 housing solutions. Never before in the history of Jamaica that has ever been done, and we building our houses on solid ground,” Chairman of the JLP Robert Montague said at yesterday’s mass rally.
“And I know that some of these 60,000 housing solutions will be all over rural Jamaica … house, house, house going build ‘cross Jamaica for poor people,” he added.
The JLP, in the 110-page document, said it will deliver the housing solutions through a combination of direct construction and initiatives that expand housing development islandwide. It said this will increase supply, drive down costs, and open the doors of home ownership to more Jamaicans.
“With this overarching target, we affirm our belief that quality housing is the foundation for thriving and sustainable communities. We will therefore move beyond the limited concept of housing solutions and embrace a holistic approach to community development,” the JLP said.
Social Housing
Stating that human rights begins with a dignified existence, the party also said, “We will expand and fortify the New Social Housing Programme with a goal of 10,000 units by 2030, targeting the most vulnerable.
“We will transform eligible informal settlements through land regularisation and infrastructure upgrades into secure, legally recognised communities that foster stability, economic empowerment, and a better quality of life for all Jamaicans.”
Further, the JLP is touting a new ‘1 in 5’ and ‘2 in 10’ National Housing Trust (NHT) proposal that, it said, will benefit public-sector workers, including teachers, nurses, and the security forces.
The JLP said that in addition to the reduction in NHT loan rate that public-sector workers benefit from, it intends to give nurses, teachers and members of the security forces the recognition their nation-building service deserves with an additional one per cent reduction in their NHT loan interest rate after completing five full years of service; and an additional two per cent reduction in their NHT loan interest rate after 10 full years of service.
The PNP, on the other hand, said it will build the proposed houses on public lands across the country not suitable for agriculture over the next five years, and exclude the value of land from the price of those homes to make ownership more accessible.
It is also proposing an NHT Rent to Own Programme to target self-employed and informally employed persons – who cannot produce a payslip to prove their income so as to qualify for a mortgage – to go into possession of the house as a tenant and access mortgages after six months of honouring their rental payments, in order to become owners.
The PNP also said it will establish a $1-billion Young Owners Deposit Fund (replenished annually) within the NHT to enable persons up to 45 years old to access non-refundable grants of $500,000 to cover the deposit on the purchase of their first home, once they have contributed for at least two years to the NHT.
For public-sector workers, including teachers, nurses, and police, correctional and military officers, the party said it will restore reduced interest rates.
It said this will also be done for persons with disabilities.
The PNP is also proposing to grant public-sector workers a three-month grace period before mortgage payments begin after purchasing their home, “to enable them to furnish it”. It said it also intends to apply a preferred 40 per cent debt service ratio to support public-sector workers in qualifying for larger NHT loans.
Meanwhile, the JLP is proposing a ‘no tax on tips and gratuities’ policy which, it said, is in keeping with its late 2024 announcement.
The JLP said tips and gratuities paid to employees of hotels, restaurants, bars and similar establishments will be exempt from income tax for employees earning up to $3 million per annum.
“This will ensure that the people on the frontlines of our hospitality industry, the hearts and smiles of tourism, see a real and direct benefit from delivering outstanding service,” the JLP said.
Similarly, the PNP has proposed in its 60-page manifesto, the removal of tax tips, gratuities, and commissions earned by tourism workers, subject to anti-abuse provisions.
The party said this would exempt these forms of income from income tax, aiming to improve fairness and dignity for frontline workers in the sector.
Further, it said if it forms government, it will remove tax from overtime payments for workers whose total annual earnings do not exceed $6 million, subject to anti-abuse provisions.
“This is part of broader labour reforms to enhance economic security and promote a liveable wage,” it said.
The PNP also said it wants to remove tax entirely from pension income, as part of pension reform efforts to support retirees and encourage worker ownership and economic democracy.
A sore point for the banking sector, the JLP said it intends to reduce and ultimately eliminate the asset tax requirement for regulated financial institutions, “as fiscal space allows”.
The JLP is also promising to reduce income tax to 15 per cent of annual earnings over a phased basis, if it continues in government.
“We will build on our 1.5 [income tax threshold], the largest increase in the income tax threshold in decades, and embark on a disciplined, deliberate phased move towards a long-term base rate for personal income tax of 15 per cent,” the document said.
Late last night, PNP President Mark Golding announced that a future PNP government will raise the personal income tax threshold, allowing persons earning up to $3.5 million annually to pay zero per cent income tax.
The party said it will also consolidate statutory deductions.
“We will replace the four separate statutory deductions (Education Tax, HEART, NIS and NHT) with a single consolidated deduction, simplifying payroll administration for employers and employees. We will also streamline the reporting requirements for statutory deductions, reducing the administrative burden on businesses,” the JLP manifesto said.
In comparison, the PNP said it, too, will phase out asset tax, but with a definitive timeline of over five years.
The PNP said it will take a “serious” look at the asset tax that banks are currently required to pay.
“We understand the concerns raised by the banks about this tax, which is part of their cost structure. A fiscally prudent PNP government is committed to phasing out the asset tax over five years. We will do this while we assess the revenue performance and make adjustments,” the PNP’s spokesperson on finance, Julian Robinson, said.
