HGP Nightly News – Opposition Member of Parliament Sherod Duncan has claimed that figures released by the Minister of Housing himself provide clear evidence that Guyana’s housing system is in serious decline.
In a statement responding to the Minister’s address on December 27, 2025, Duncan argued that the government’s own five-year cumulative data contradicts claims of progress and instead points to what he described as a failed housing model built on allocations rather than completed homes.
According to Duncan, the Minister disclosed that approximately 53,000 house lots were allocated over the past five years, while only about 4,000 homes were constructed during the same period. Duncan claims this translates to a conversion rate of roughly 7.5 percent, which he argues leaves tens of thousands of families holding allocation letters while continuing to pay rent.
Duncan further alleged that the problem is worsened by what he termed a growing “paper landlord” crisis. He claimed that while 53,000 lots were distributed, only 25,000 titles were processed, leaving an estimated 28,000 families without legal ownership documents.
According to Duncan, without titles, beneficiaries are unable to secure mortgages, begin construction, or use their allocations as functional assets. He argued that an allocation without a title offers little practical value and instead traps families in prolonged bureaucratic uncertainty.
The MP also claimed that despite the Minister describing the housing programme as “aggressive,” the backlog of applicants has reportedly grown to approximately 78,000. Duncan argued that this indicates the housing queue is longer today than when the administration assumed office, despite years of increased spending and allocations.
He further challenged the government’s stated intention to construct 40,000 homes in the next term, alleging that delivering only 4,000 homes over five years makes the new target unrealistic. Duncan claimed the promise represents a projected 1,000 percent increase in output without any accompanying structural reforms to support such expansion.
In contrast, Duncan outlined what he described as an alternative approach under a proposed “Housing Guyana” strategy. He claimed this would shift policy focus from allocations to completed homes, lower the housing application age to 18, provide free house lots to low-income earners, and introduce rent-to-own schemes.
He further alleged that the approach would include rental assistance to cap housing costs, mortgage support, home improvement grants, state-led housing development on unused land, climate-resilient inland expansion, and stronger protections for renters.
Duncan concluded by asserting that while the government has focused on issuing allocation letters, his proposal centres on delivering completed homes that families can actually live in.
As of publication, the Government has not responded directly to the claims raised by the MP.
