Hundreds of house lots available in St. Peter’s

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TWO hundred and forty house lots in the St. Peter’s area are now available for purchase under the Special Land Distribution Initiative (SLDI).

The lots, which form part of the White House Garden Housing Development project, are being offered at a starting price of $2.95 per square foot. They range in size from 6 000 to 9 000 square feet and occupy 49.5 acres of land.

According to a Post-Cabinet briefing dated August 12, the release of these lots is in response to the “ever-increasing demand” for lots of residential purposes. Yesterday’s briefing also revealed that 118 land lots were released in Newtown Ground and the villages of Boyds and Keys.

The SLDI was launched by the government in August 2007 to provide 5 000 house lots to nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis. At a press conference earlier this year, Prime Minister and Minister of Lands Dr. Denzil Douglas revealed that only 1 000 of these lots had been distributed.

“We are hoping to be able to distribute 600 acres of land to 5 000 target persons. However, to date, we have only distributed 1 000 of that 5 000 we indicated was available. So it is the responsibility of every citizen to respond to the programme,” Douglas said at the time.

Individuals receiving allocations of lots under the SLDI are required to make a down payment of $100, after which a moratorium of two years is granted. Within the past year, house lots have been made available in several communities, including Lodge, Sandy Point, St. Paul’s and Dieppe Bay.

In an update to the Cabinet, PM Douglas also reported that the Land Committee continues to meet under his supervision once per week. The committee meets every Friday to determine all matters related to land distribution. 

Membership is comprised of Douglas, Director of Lands and Surveys Calvin Esdaille, Director of Agriculture Ashton Stanley, Minister of Agriculture Hon. Cedric Liburd, Permanent Secretary (PS) for Sustainable Development Hilary Hazel, PS for Housing and Agriculture Dr. Hermia Morton-Anthony, Senior Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Agriculture Charles Williams, and General Manager of  the National Housing Corporation (NHC) Wayland Vaughan.