32 get keys to new low income homes

New homeowners of the Diamond Low Income Housing Project have been urged to maintain the aesthetic nature of the surroundings.

The appeal came from chairman of the Housing and Land Development Corporation Beresford Phillips last Tuesday as he addressed the handing over ceremony of the newest set of Low Income Houses. {{more}}

Diamond, located about seven miles south east of capital Kingstown where the houses were built on a gently sloping plot of land which offers a commanding and splendid view of the beach to the east, the Grenadines to the south, and the proposed National Stadium nearby.

Phillips pointed out that the land on which the structures were erected, was valued at $7 a square foot, but was in fact sold for $4.

Some 32 houses were handed over Tuesday. The two bedroom units, valued at $62,000 were sold for $53,000 while three-bedroom residences valued at $77,000 went at a cost of $63,000.

Phillips pointed to the market value of the properties and defined the savings which owners were benefiting from as a result.

He called the project a “new era in housing development in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”

The Diamond Housing Project is the sixth such venture where Low-Income houses were built and handed over to owners here.

Other areas where houses have been built are Petit Bordel, Peters Hope, Ottley Hall, Green Hill and Brighton.

Phillips said he was not going to be dragged into any debate as to whether Low Income houses should have been constructed at the Diamond location but urged the new owners “not to turn the site into a slum.”

The HLDC chairman lamented that the cost of the houses had to be increased which he attributed to recent increases in material.

For Phillips however, the completion of the houses was an expression of concern for the poor.