Guyana’s President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, has outlined plans for a GYD870 billion expansion in the country’s housing sector over the next five years, committing to the construction of at least 30,000 homes and the development of 20,000 acres of new land.
“We are moving from land ownership to home ownership… delivering… 16 homes per day in the next five years,” he said at the opening of International Building Expo 2025 on Thursday evening on the outskirts of Georgetown. The President estimated the housing drive would create 150,000 jobs and pump GY$450 billion into home construction alone, separate from the GY$420 billion required to prepare land for 80,000 pending applications.
Ali detailed that most of the 53,000 lots allocated in the past five years went to persons under 35, supported by measures such as online applications, a single window building permit system, and reduced mortgage rates. He calculated that interest rate cuts on low and middle-income loans have saved homeowners GY$43.8 billion.
“This is careful planning… continuous work around the clock,” he said, urging the private sector to prepare for the “scale of opportunities” ahead.
Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, reported that 50,000 families have received house lots since 2020, alongside 20,000 processed land titles, 3,000 turnkey homes, and a housing subsidy programme worth GY$550 million in steel and cement vouchers. Access to treated water has risen from 52% to 75% since 2020, with national coverage targeted by 2026.
Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues, said the Expo features 389 booths, including 29 international companies, under the theme ‘The Road to Success: Guyana 2030 and Beyond’.
She noted that 90% of house lot allocations went to low, moderate, and middle income families, with 43% to single women.
Over the course of the Expo, 2,000 land titles will be distributed to new owners.
