Report on West Bay housing completed

Children and Family Services has completed a needs assessment report on residents in condemned homes in West Bay. 

However, the report into the housing situation in Apple Blossom Road in Birch Tree Hill has to be tabled by the Housing Trust Board for discussion before an action plan is put in place. Government ordered the report to determine whether residents in the substandard affordable homes would qualify for new homes. Housing Development Trust General Manager Julio Ramos said the report was received late last month.  

“The Housing Trust will review the report and give their feedback to the ministry,” Mr. Ramos said. 

He said, as well as housing issues, the tenants had other social needs that should be addressed. “Some people are sick, some unemployed and some indigent. Housing cannot address their social issues, so we have to refer those individuals to the government, and government needs to decide on what will happen to those individuals,” he added. 

The National Housing Development Trust wants to redevelop the housing site to build a more modern version that meets the building code standards of the Planning Department. 

The 30 substandard government affordable homes have been condemned because they are not fit to live in, not legally occupied and – in their current state – serve as a major potential liability to the government. The homes were condemned after Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and residents never received a certificate of occupancy. 

Mr. Ramos said the occupants continued to complain about the dilapidation of the houses, including the seepage of water through their homes due to rain, and other issues, but the Housing Trust was limited to dealing with septic services and other common area maintenance. 

The Trust had been mandated to provide an assessment of the site and each family’s situation. The Needs Assessment Unit of the Department of Children and Family Services conducted the personal assessments. 

In the meantime, one person has moved out of one of the homes. Mr. Ramos said he could not say whether the occupant had moved out on their own or with the help of the Children and Family Services department.