Manifesto watch: Candidates promise to fix housing but differ on detail

Politicians across the political spectrum may not always agree, but one thing candidates from all sides of the debate share a view on in the run-up to the 2025 general election is the need for affordable housing for Caymanians, whether buying or renting, young or old.

Where they differ is in the details, with a whole variety of solutions being proposed in the party manifestos or in the series of Chamber of Commerce debates.

So, what are they proposing?

Shared ownership, key workers and Plan Cayman from the PPM

The PPM manifesto puts housing as a number one priority in its list of solutions for young people, proposing “more affordable housing options including shared ownership plans, and a new key worker housing guarantee to ensure that young Caymanian graduates in professions such as teaching and healthcare can access affordable housing on-island”.

It goes on to say that the long-term development plan for the Cayman Islands, Plan Cayman, should be completed, to give certainty to people about housing and infrastructure improvements, development and land use and to guide physical development in the future.

The PPM’s solution to the perennial issue of more affordable housing for both buyers and renters is to revamp the Government Guaranteed Home Assisted Mortgage programme to ensure more Caymanian families can access the finance they need to buy a home, to expand the range of affordable housing options and the number of units under construction by boosting the funding available to the National Housing Development Trust.

It also suggests:

• extending support through the ‘Build on Your Own Property’ initiative to enable more Caymanians to build their own homes,
• working with developers and financing institutions to create more shared ownership options for first-time Caymanian homebuyers, including a rent-to-own option,
• exploring solutions for the rental market, including establishing a new social landlord scheme and working with the private sector to increase the affordable rental stock,
• introducing new ‘key worker’ housing guarantees to ensure that young Caymanians in  professions such as teaching and healthcare are able to access affordable rented housing in Cayman rather than having to opt for jobs overseas in more affordable countries,
• developing new retirement communities to meet the needs of an ageing population and to free up existing under-occupied housing for families.

Overall vision

The need for a new National Development Plan is more urgent now than it was four years ago, says the PPM, with the immigration-led population explosion that has occurred since the Cayman Islands reopened after the pandemic placing huge strain on the housing market.

“The Plan Cayman approach recognises that we need to make sure that future development is sustainable so that growth occurs within sensible environmental limits,” says Joey Hew’s party. “When looking at future development, we will ensure that it is balanced so that population, jobs, housing and infrastructure proceed in line with each other. This will ensure, for example, that population growth does not occur at a rate that cannot be supported by available housing.”

More affordable and accessible, TCCP says

In its manifesto, TCCP lists 10 top priorities for the new administration should it form the new government, and housing is on the list, alongside other issues including cost of living and the economy. The party says, “We believe every citizen has the right to safe, quality housing, and every Caymanian deserves housing security. TCCP will take bold steps to make housing more affordable and accessible.”

The party, led by former Deputy Premier André Ebanks, has a raft of suggestions to help Caymanians get on the housing ladder, including re-introducing the Government Guaranteed Home Assisted Mortgage programme to help eligible Caymanians qualify for a zero-down payment mortgage; raising the upper price limit for stamp duty waivers to reflect today’s market conditions and help more eligible first-time buyers; accelerate building by the National Housing Development Trust and amend planning regulations to cut red tape and provide incentives to contractors to increase the supply of low- and middle-income housing.

Plans for the rental market

Renters are also provided for in TCCP’s manifesto, with plans to pass legislation to protect tenants and landlords by establishing a rental housing unit to improve rental housing standards and transparency, introducing a standard lease agreement to protect both tenants and landlords, and put into place routine inspections and enforce minimum standards for rental properties.

For social housing and housing repairs, TCCP suggests:

• expanding access to transitional or long-term social housing for Caymanians in crisis or in need,
• maintaining a stock of government-owned or controlled housing units for vulnerable individuals and families, including clients of the Department of Financial Assistance,
• ensuring relevant social services units are available to maintain the property and provide social support to the clients,
• partnerships with existing homeowners to add annexes to help adult children take care of ageing parents,
• expanding funding for urgent home repairs for Caymanians living in unsafe or unhealthy conditions, especially the elderly and vulnerable,
• offering targeted financial assistance or government-coordinated repairs to maintain the quality and liveability of existing homes.

Overall vision

Led by Ebanks, TCCP candidates have talked throughout the campaign of a bigger, more joined-up plan for Cayman, of which housing is just one part. The party says, “Lack of affordable housing is part of a broader conversation about population growth, immigration policies and physical development. TCCP’s solutions align with our overall strategy to balance the economic, social, and environmental needs of our people.”

A housing crisis needs our solutions, CINP says

The Cayman Islands National Party, led by Dan Scott, says that the Cayman Islands is “a country in crisis”, adding, “The Cayman Islands – once the envy of the region – are now burdened by record-high cost of living, uncontrolled immigration, a housing crisis, crumbling public trust, and leadership that has failed us time and again.”

Its manifesto declares that the CINP is committed to “opportunity for the Caymanian dream for all Caymanians” and lists the many problems, which it says have caused the current housing crisis, including “unplanned population growth, ineffective immigration policies, and non-Caymanians competing with Caymanians to own property which they in turn use for speculative investing and short-term rentals result in excessively high cost of housing.”

CINP has drawn up an action list to tackle the housing problem, promising to:

• explore government-issued, 30-year, fixed-rate bonds to enable banks to offer long-term, fixed-rate mortgages,
• encourage private investment in housing projects and provide incentives for developments that include options for affordable property and housing for Caymanians,
• reduce the number of permanent resident applicants who compete with Caymanians for property ownership,
• streamline planning and building control permits and increase government planning staff to deliver faster turnaround times,
• restrict land banking by foreigners who do not reside in the Cayman Islands,
• create a registry of short-term rental properties and limit the number of short-term rentals in some areas.

Like the other parties, CINP says that the housing problem particularly affects young people and says that by prioritising education reform, employment, housing, mental health, job readiness, and civic participation, young people will be able to prosper from, and participate in, the country’s future successes.

In carrying out its action plan, the CINP says that it will implement effective policies that will ensure all Caymanians have access to affordable housing that enhances their quality of life.

Independent candidates

While many candidates in the 2025 general election have aligned themselves with one of the three main parties, there are just as many who are standing as independent candidates. Here are some of their views on how to solve Cayman’s housing crisis.

Phillip Ebanks, independent candidate for Red Bay

“Housing is a massive issue. Housing stock is way down and as a result of that, the cost of housing is up. You also have issues with mortgages, so we must look at ensuring mortgage rates are extended so that individuals will have a better long-term process in order to get a mortgage.”

Jewel Hydes, independent candidate for West Bay Central

“In regards to housing, I would first advocate for the government to perform a housing assessment, because right now the government doesn’t have a true picture of how many Caymanians are in need of a home. The only figure that we have is the number of applications that the National Housing Trust has received and that figure, I understand, is 800+ applications, but that still doesn’t tell us exactly how many persons are in need of a home.

“Then the government needs to decide how many homes can be built, because the government doesn’t have an infinite amount of resources. Also in regards to housing, we don’t necessarily need to do a one-floor house. We can consider apartment complexes when it comes to providing Caymanians with housing.”

Sterling Dwayne Ebanks, independent candidate for West Bay South

“There’s always a dream of everybody to own his or her own home, and while recognising that we have limited land mass…we need to look closely at increasing the densities where appropriate. But I do not think having large, multi-storey buildings akin to projects is what Caymanians want. We like our yard space and our outdoor areas, so we need to create communities where the densities are there, but allowing for privacy.”

Alric Lindsay, independent candidate for George Town South

“I think that the Cayman Development Bank could explore some options, including working with developers who are interested in building affordable homes, so instead of those developers going to the bigger banks you go to the Cayman Development Bank and you get a low-interest loan. Those same developers could be encouraged to offer mixed units within their buildings especially if it’s a big building, to offer low-income housing within their development.

“Another thing that Cayman Development Bank could do in partnership with developers is to perhaps pursue the building of tiny homes. That would require a cultural shift, as obviously most Caymanians would want to live in a much bigger space, but given the harsh realities of affordability of homes, we may have to make a cultural adjustment.”

Want to know more?

The Compass has reported in-depth on the housing issues facing Cayman over the past few years, including suggesting innovative ways to fix the housing crisis, a spotlight on Cayman’s housing crisis and plans for affordable housing.

Read the manifestos

If you want to delve deeper, read the PPM manifesto, TCCP’s manifesto and the CINP manifesto.