60 THE STATE OF SOCIAL HOUSING IN SIX CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES
of land ownership in Guyana through two compo-
nents: (i) investment in land divestiture, squatter
u
pgrading, and road maintenance; and (ii) techni-
cal assistance for policy reform and institutional
d
evelopment of the CH&PA.
The first component divested public land suf
-
ficient for 15,000 lots and provided these lots
p
rincipally to low-income households living in
marginalized areas along with a basic package of
services, consisting of drainage, water, and roads.
Squatter settlements containing 6,500 families
were upgraded in a similar fashion. The CH&PA
delivered an environmental and homeownership
training program (EHTP) instructing households
in building septic tanks or pit latrines, building
their homes, and consolidating their communities.
The second component’s policy reform ele
-
ment was aimed at increasing private sector resi-
dential development through: (i) strengthening
t
he development approval and land use planning
process and auctioning raw government land to
developers, (ii) greatly expanding outreach of the
CH&PA to low-income households through the
EHTP, (iii) creating a framework for interagency
response to squatting, (iv) modernizing legisla
-
tion for land use planning and development reg-
ulation, (v) helping private home lenders finance
l
ow- to moderate-income housing, and (vi) ana-
lyzing and recommending cost-eective modes
o
f road maintenance. The institutional strengthen-
ing element of the second component focused on
r
eorganization, land divesting, squatter upgrad-
ing, land use planning, development regulation at
t
he CH&PA, improving information and financial/
accounting systems, and enabling the jump in the
production of basic services and titles required by
the program.
The first component of the LIS-1 was fairly suc
-
cessful. The divesture of public land resulted in the
c
reation of 19,000 house lots and provided these
lots principally to low-income households living in
marginalized areas along with a basic package of
services, consisting of drainage, water and roads.
Additionally, 13,000 new house lots were built in
more than 10 new settlements. The settlements
were completed and allocated to low-income
beneficiary households, thus easing some of the
pent up demand for housing and infrastructure.
However, a number of challenges remained at
the close of the project in 2007. The institutional
strengthening subcomponent of the project did
not achieve the coordination and collaboration
of policies of the various agencies involved in the
program. Nor was there much success in involv
-
ing private lenders in the program, and transfer
o
f community training outside of the pilot areas
was inadequate. Although the CH&PA delivered
an environmental and homeownership training
program manual instructing households in build
-
ing septic tanks or pit latrines, constructing their
h
omes, and consolidating their communities, the
transfer of this technology was limited.
The second LIS program was implemented to
address some of these concerns. The objective of
LIS-2, which began in 2009, was to improve the
quality of life of low-income families through bet
-
ter access to housing. The LIS-2 was separated into
t
hree components and was expected to benefit
12,000 households. Component 1 was to: develop
eight new sites with services, consolidate exist
-
ing housing schemes in seven areas, and upgrade
fi
ve squatter areas. Additionally, this component
would include US$2million for investments to
guarantee potable water supply to the 20 afore
-
mentioned sites. These investments would include
i
nstallation of new wells, transmission upgrades,
and leak reduction. Also included in this compo
-
nent was a pilot of 400 core houses, defined as a
m
inimum of 312 square feet with a sanitary block
(septic tank, toilet, shower, and multipurpose sink),
concrete block for outer walls, floor in concrete
slab, basic doors, windows, electrical wiring, and
water connections. The cost of this unit was esti
-
mated at US$5,500. A summary of the financial
s
tructure of the solutions in component 1 is set out
in Table 12.