Minister Gumbs: Housing Foundation has approximately 4,000 housing requests

GREAT BAY--The St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation currently has approximately 4,000 housing requests on record, Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Patrice Gumbs told Parliament during the continuation of a meeting on the current state of national housing in St. Maarten.

Minister Gumbs clarified that the figure does not automatically mean 4,000 families are waiting for homes. He explained that the number represents requests submitted to the foundation, and that each request may reflect different household circumstances, family sizes, urgency levels and housing needs.

The Minister said the Housing Development Foundation remains responsible for government-administered housing allocations. However, he noted that the waiting list is not a guarantee that a person will receive a home simply based on the length of time their name has been on the list. When a unit becomes available, applicants are contacted and their circumstances are reviewed.

According to Minister Gumbs, applicants must regularly update their information with the foundation so that their current situation can be properly assessed when housing becomes available. He said the list is accurate in principle, but it depends on persons keeping their status up to date.

Housing allocation, the Minister explained, is based on several factors, including availability, urgency, household composition, dependents and the applicant’s present circumstances. The goal is to ensure that decisions are made based on actual need at the time a unit becomes available.

Minister Gumbs also addressed the status of emergency homes constructed after major hurricanes. He said 295 emergency homes were built after Hurricane Luis and 200 after Hurricane Irma. These homes are administered by the Housing Development Foundation and were originally intended to be temporary in nature.

However, the Minister said long-term planning for these emergency housing projects is complicated by the fact that some of the homes are located on land that does not belong to government. In some cases, the land is privately owned and subject to rental arrangements. Any long-term solution for the homes and their residents, he said, must take those land ownership realities into account.

Rent-to-own solutions are included in the proposed housing policy and may be considered where applicable, particularly on government-owned property. The Minister indicated that such options could form part of a broader effort to create more secure and sustainable housing arrangements for residents, where the legal and land ownership conditions allow it.

The Minister also said maintenance and repair issues in existing government-related housing areas will be addressed through the existing maintenance plan. He emphasized that maintenance must also be part of new housing development, since building homes without a maintenance structure can create long-term problems for residents, government and the Housing Development Foundation.

According to the Minister, proper maintenance planning is necessary to keep housing sustainable, protect the value of the housing stock and help keep costs manageable for residents over time.

Minister Gumbs further explained that the proposed housing policy includes monitoring and reporting mechanisms. These include a housing market monitoring system, annual action plans and budgets, and the ability to adjust the policy based on results.

He acknowledged, however, that the policy does not establish a formal penalty or legal fallback mechanism if housing targets are not achieved. Instead, the policy relies on monitoring, reporting, evaluation and adjustment as implementation moves forward.

The Minister said the housing policy is also intended to guide government’s future land issuance policy. Government land decisions, he explained, will take into account the needs and recommendations outlined in the housing policy, including criteria and priorities for housing development.

Minister Gumbs said government remains open to public-private partnerships and will continue working with private developers, financial institutions and the Housing Development Foundation to increase housing delivery.

He said St. Maarten’s housing challenge cannot be solved through one project, one location or one institution. The policy is designed to use multiple tools, multiple locations and multiple partners to expand access to housing while balancing affordability, limited land availability, infrastructure capacity and long-term sustainability.

‍