The future of a miniature trailer park in central George Town, consisting of four shipping containers converted into small homes, will be debated by the Central Planning Authority next week.
The rented homes were put in place without planning permission on the grounds of a warehouse on Webb Road, the Cayman Compass reported last year.
Residents, living two-to-a-container, told us they are paying $650 each – or $1,300 per container. That gets them a small bedroom, a shared cooker and somewhere to sit and watch television or eat a meal.
The containers were converted during the pandemic to help provide emergency accommodation for workers at the warehouse, the Compass reported in November.
Now Cleveland Dilbert, who owns land and businesses in the area, has submitted an ‘after-the-fact’ application for planning permission to regularise the status of the small residential community.
If approved, it could pave the way for similar conversions to meet demand for cheap housing for low-income workers in and around the capital.
The planning authority is being asked to consider ‘whether the container homes are aesthetically appropriate’ as part of its analysis, according to agenda papers for its upcoming meeting, scheduled for 12 April.
There are no public objections listed to the development, which is on the agenda along with a neighbouring duplex as a $6.7 million project. Various conditions, including the incorporation of an appropriately sized septic tank, are recommended.
The applicant is also seeking a variance to allow for a slightly higher density of rooms within the footprint of the site than would ordinarily be approved.
‘Small but comfortable’
When the Compass visited the site in November last year, residents had mixed views about the dwellings.
“It is a little small,” one resident told us. “It is OK though, it is comfortable and it is all I can afford.”
The containers have been fitted out with hardwood floors. There’s a small television, with cable, and the bills are covered.
“I have lived in a lot worse places,” another said.
All of the residents we spoke to were single people on low wages. They said they just needed somewhere cheap to lay their head or were attracted by the option of having their own room – however small – after sharing apartments to cut costs.
Other business owners have highlighted challenges recruiting staff because of the high cost of housing in Cayman.
Some are considering building accommodation for their employees as an incentive.
Grand Old House is aiming to build dormitory-style accommodation to allow its staff to live on site. Davenport Development is looking at similar options to source land to provide subsidised staff housing.
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Sounds a little expensive for what they get . I own a small 8 unit in West Bay and only get $1300 for much more than those little containers