The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

About four years ago a young Dutchman told me that he, along with the majority of Dutchmen in his age group, cannot afford to buy a house or a plot of land in The Netherlands. His only option is to rent, which in itself is also extremely costly.

If my memory serves me correctly, he said that the average cost of homes in his European country is in the half a million dollar range.

A foreign news publication named The Guardian recently published an article regarding the housing crisis in The Netherlands, which corroborates what the Dutchman told me. According to The Guardian, the “average home costs €424,681, more than 10 times the modal income.” The €424,681 figure is equivalent to $466,928.27 USD.

From 2015 to 2021, when the average disposable household income was increased by 25 percent, the prices for homes increased by a whopping 63 percent, owing to low interest rates and “a national shortage of 390,000 homes” in The Netherlands. In certain upscale areas, housing inflation shot up to 130 percent. Government policies have effectively elbowed the average Dutchman out of the housing market.

I see a similar looming housing crisis down the road for the island of New Providence, with its population of 305,000, which represents 70 percent of the entire Bahamian population. Nassau’s economic boom entails foreign and domestic investors buying up huge chunks of land on an island that is only seven miles at its widest and 21 miles long.

An investment proposal was recently announced for the western end of New Providence. Both bookends of New Providence are where those in the upper echelons reside, while the masses of medium to low income Bahamian and Haitian families are boxed in the centre of the island.

What the looming housing crisis means for the overwhelming majority of the island’s population is that many of them will never own a piece of property or a house. The term “affordable housing” in Nassau is a misnomer, as a small three bedroom house in Bain and Grants Town or near Kemp Road could easily cost as much as $160,000.

The days of $75,000 low cost homes are gone, at least in Nassau. Land is becoming scarce, as more and more wealthy foreign investors continue to buy up massive chunks of real estate, which in turn is driving up the cost of property prices.

The average Bahamian in New Providence cannot afford to buy a home. These people, like the Dutchman I spoke to, are doomed to be renters for the rest of their lives. Like The Netherlands, government policies in Nassau have elbowed the average Bahamian out of the housing market. While the government continues to boast about the significant amount of foreign investments, wealthy foreigners are buying lands right from under the Bahamian people.

We are prisoners of the moment with a myopic vision. Fifty years down the road there will be nothing left for future generations of Bahamians in New Providence, as it will be foreign owned. God willing, in 2073 Bahamians will rightly condemn the governments of this era for creating the housing crisis they will be saddled with.

Without land ownership, you’re a landless individual with less rights than the foreign investors whose loyalty lies with their respective countries.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport,

Grand Bahama,

April 16, 2023.