A number of people holding Certificates of Comfort for squatter sites developed by the Land Settlements Agency (LSA) will now be invited to buy the land at a premium of 25 per cent of its market value.
Housing Minister Randall Mitchell disclosed this yesterday in Parliament while giving an update on squatter regularisation during the 2018 Budget debate
“We expect to be able to offer 1,034 persons statutory leases over the next fiscal year. Beneficiaries of the leases will have approximately 30 years to pay off for the land,”Mitchell said.
“The statutory lease moves the beneficiary from a non-possessory right under the COC to a possessory right under the statutory lease.”
The LSA’s website states there are over 250 squatting sites on state lands in T&T with approximately 23,000 squatting households. It also states that while a Certificate of Comfort gives a squatter a personal right to protection from ejection from state land, it does not convey/give a squatter any right, legal interest or title to such land.
Yesterday, Mitchell said all COC applications will be processed, investigated and determined by January 2018.
Speaking afterwards on the new purchase thrust, he told T&T Guardian, “Now that the LSA has conducted the infrastructural upgrades to these squatter sites at full development standards, the LSA is now in a position to make this (offer) to these COC holders, once they have fulfilled their obligations under the 1998 Act.”
According to that act, the COC holder is to be charged a “premium” for the land.
He added, “The premium is to be made up of a cost for the raw land, as well as the cost for the infrastructure. Cabinet recently approved the premium at 25 per cent of the market value of the land as determined by the Commissioner of Valuations. Government will absorb the infrastructure cost.”
Mitchell said the act is the State Land (Regularisation of Tenure) Act 1998.
“Purpose of the act was to protect certain squatters from being ejected from state land, to facilitate the acquisition of leasehold titles by both squatters and tenants in designated areas. It allowed for those unlawful occupiers of state land prior to 1998, a period of time up until October 2000 to apply for a Certificate of Comfort. Subsequently, through two IDB loans, squatter sites all across Trinidad were upgraded and surveyed. COC applications were processed.”
He said approximately 23,000 applications were received.
“We’ve ramped up processing of these applications and will complete all processing by January 2018.”
Low income earners targeted
Mitchell also said the ministry has terminated the Land For The Landless (LFTL) programme (of the last administration) due to flaws. This included beneficiaries signing agreements for land without deposits and some who had no income or their income was too low to qualify. No due diligence was done on the programme, he added, noting the People’s Partnership’s focus had been contractors involved in the plan rather than the public.
Replacing the LFTL, Mitchell said, will be the Aided Self-Help Housing Programme, which is geared to assisting low/middle income earners with construction of their own homes, providing financial and technical support from the state. It assists persons seeking affordable residential serviced land lots to erect houses, and also assists those with land who require help to construct a housing unit. A four-stage process goes from application to ministry assistance.
The plan provides fully developed housing lots; sold at 30 per cent its market value, access to subsidised mortgage facilities from the T&T Mortgage Finance Company, pre-approved house plans and oversight assistance for construction. Those without land can access pre-approved house plans, a number of short-listed contractors and technical oversight. One hundred lots will be available within 2018 and 500 later.
Mitchell said the programme is one of many to further stimulate the economy and create employment for skilled/semi-skilled labourers.
“It will see the increase in the national housing stock and a decrease in demand on the HDC for housing units,” he said.