The National Housing Trust (NHT) has put on the market 46 two-bedroom units in Morris Meadows, St Catherine, a development in which it has invested $268.8 million for land and construction.
The agency will accept applications for the units between May 18 and 22.
The units represent the third phase of Morris Meadows, which was initially put on the market in 2007.
The development is located along Grange Lane, off the Municipal Boulevard (I95), or approximately four kilometres from the Mandela Highway.
The homes cost $5.6 million each; they are 77.9 square metres, or 839 square feet in size.
350 square-metre lots
The average lot size is 350 square metres, or 3,770 square feet.
The NHT will lend a single applicant up to $3.5 million towards acquiring a home in Morris Meadows, or any other of the trust's schemes.
The applicant would, however, have to fund the outstanding amount of $2,105,800.
Two persons who co-apply for one of the units, together can get up to $5,320,000 to borrow, said the agency.
This means they would have to find only the deposit and closing cost, amounting to $285,000.
The cost of the Morris Meadows units has climbed over the years.
The first set of homes was sold at $3.8 million each in 2007; the 46 units sold in 2008 went for $4.6 million; and the newest set is costing a million dollars more.
Still, the houses are among the cheapest on the market. For example, the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ), formerly the National Housing Development Corporation, recently advertised that it would put two-bedroom units on the market for $6.8 million each. The size of the units is 800 square feet each and lot size, 2,800 square feet each.
state-owned and operated
Both the NHT and the HAJ are state-owned and operated.
The NHT houses were developed on property - some 200 serviced lots - acquired from NF Barnes Construction and Equipment Company Limited as repayment for a loan the state agency gave to finance the 414 lot sub-divisions at Morris Meadows.
However, only 150 of the lots were utilised for the development.
The scheme has been developed under the agency's Labour and Small Material Programme, under which small contractors are selected to participate in the construction of housing units in completed serviced lot developments based on their experience and proven track record in building construction.
The NHT facilitates the programme through the provision of the main building materials - except plumbing and electrical - and services such as scheme design, and contractors' all-risk insurance coverage.
The NHT's 2009-10 target for new housing starts is 4,800 units, in which the agency will be investing $4.77 billion.
dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com
The NHT will lend a single applicant up to $3.5 million towards acquiring a home in Morris Meadows, or any other of the trust's schemes.