The Tribune

By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

ABACO is suffering from a housing crisis, according to an Abaco township chairman, who has proposed a private-public partnership to help solve the post-Hurricane Dorian problem on the island.

Roscoe Thompson, chairman of Marsh Harbour Spring City Township, said Bahamians should be given an opportunity to help rescue Abaco from the lack of housing plaguing the island through PPPs allowing for rent-controlled long-term home rentals.

“I think [the] government can look at a PPP, a private part public partnership,” Mr Thompson said. “I mean in all honesty, with the land that we have here and availability of land - and this is something that I presented to both administrations - why not allow Bahamians to go into partnership and if they get the crown land at a reduced rate or a lease agreement for X amount of years, let a Bahamian decide to build 51 bedrooms and 52 bedroom duplex, a two-storey, similar to what they have in the cities in Atlanta or New York or just like an apartment complex and have it to where it’s rent control. So when you think about it, if you have 51 bedrooms that, let’s just say [are] $500 a month, that’s $25,000 a month you have coming in. That’s not including the two bedrooms. And even if you went at $1,000, that’s another 50. So you’re looking anywhere from, just on a low, from 60 to $80,000 a month coming in. That gives an opportunity for Bahamians to invest and become part of solving the problem here.

“I don’t know why many Bahamians haven’t jumped at it. Is it because of the red tape… but I think something needs to be done because the government cannot afford to just go and build housing. We just don’t have the money. Even if it went through the IDB or through the mortgage corporation. We see what happens with that.

“I don’t know what the answer is. I would love to see that it is rectified to where it gives the opportunity, that if a Bahamian is looking to do something like that, the government is willing to work with them because that then relieves a lot of pressure off of them saying, ‘hey, what about the housing?’ It also gives opportunity for people living in the trailers that can afford a reasonable price. Not something that if I went and built three duplexes on my property, I can charge what I want with them. But it gives an opportunity where if you work with the government and you can get something done with that in a private public partnership, that they put stipulations like you can’t charge over 500 for a one-bedroom. I know it’s a massive scale, but you’re not talking about any major, top-end, high-end apartments. You’re just talking somewhere where somebody can live.”

Mr Thompson said this PPP would bring a lot of opportunities to Abaco noting it would provide for those who move to Abaco for work, including “teachers in our government system” and police officers. Some hotel operators in Abaco raised the same concerns with Tribune Business, stating, they are in need of skilled workers and the idea of welcoming persons from other islands to fill those positions become discouraging at the thought of the lack of housing in the island. Mr Thompson also pointed out that “construction is still booming here in Abaco” and construction workers also need a place to lay their head while completing projects adding that that place must also be affordable.

He noted that the housing that is available are mostly homes and property that were converted into short-term rental units such as Airbnbs, resulting in a large need for long-term rentals.

“The market’s good but the problem is finding housing. There is hardly any rentals, not just here in Marsh Harbour, but also in Dundas and Murphy Town. If you do find something, it’s, for [a] two-bedroom, anywhere from $1,700 to $2,000. And it’s been an ongoing issue since Dorian… I don’t know if that’s because a lot of people turned a lot of their properties into Airbnbs rather than long-term rentals.

“Even if you look at Montage, Sterling Montage, they’re having to build their own workers barracks out by St Francis, just as an example, to house workers because there is not the availability of homes or apartments for rent over here. I’ve even noticed it in Marsh Harbour, and I can really speak for Marsh Harbour proper a lot of our apartments are already rented out and it doesn’t seem that anybody is wanting to build triplexes or quads or whatever it may be at this point in time. And I don’t know why, because there is such a high demand. You still also have government workers and police living in the trailers at the government complex.

“A lot of people, when they moved, they didn’t come back. But also, when a lot of people, they sold their property, a lot of the people that bought [them] turned them into Airbnbs… They’re not looking for long-term rentals. They were looking for that short-term. I guess they make more money on it in the long run.

“That’s the problem. That’s a big issue here in Abaco. Because I had somebody ask me the other day, ‘Roscoe, please, if you hear of any one-bedrooms or two-bedrooms that come available in Marsh Harbour…’ And I said, ‘Are you willing to pay over $2,000 for a two-bedroom? That’s how high the prices have gotten. Even for one-bedroom in Marsh Harbour, you’re probably paying about a thousand bucks for [it].”