Businesses consider building staff housing as rents spiral

Cayman’s spiralling rents are making it difficult to recruit much-needed staff for the construction and hospitality industries.

Business owners say rents have increased to such an extent that people can no longer afford to live in Grand Cayman and work in those sectors.

While wages have increased, it is becoming increasingly difficult for lower income workers to survive in Cayman.

Now some businesses are looking at innovative solutions.

Grand Old House aims 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.

And the tourism sector is asking for public transport reform to enable some staff to commute from the eastern districts where housing is cheaper.

Luciano De Riso, head of operations for the Wharf and Grand Old House, said the restaurants’ greatest challenge in staffing up before high season is to find accommodation for their employees.

“Affordable housing is virtually non-existent and what there is is very expensive or too far away,” he said.

For his employees, he said rents had increased 30% on average. Salaries have risen, too, but it is difficult to keep up with those kind of percentages, especially after being closed for the past two seasons.

On-site accommodation

De Riso said the restaurants’ owners had drawn up plans for accommodation at the site. But they need the planning department to consider allowing more bedrooms than would ordinarily be allowed in that type of space.

“There is no scope for dormitory-style accommodation in the planning laws,” said De Riso. Ultimately, he would like to put 15 rooms on the site and offer simple subsidised housing to staff.

Paul Pearson, who co-owns Davenport Development with Ken Thompson, said the construction sector, which relies on high volume of labour, is also struggling to find accommodation for staff.

He said he had one employee paying $800 a month for a windowless room with a shared bathroom.

“We are actively searching for land to build a house for staff,” he said.

No overnight solution

Marc Langevin, president of the Cayman Island Tourism Association, said rent was a huge problem for remobilising the tourism industry ahead of high season.

“Go to eCay and try to find a bedroom and tell me what rate you find,” he said. “A lot of people are starting to build for their staff but that doesn’t happen overnight. Right now, it’s a problem.”

He said the surging costs of everything, from wages and pensions to staff rents and hotel utility bills, meant that prices may have to rise.

It was critical that Cayman offered a high-quality product to justify those increases, he added, noting it would be impossible for the islands to maintain their famous service standards without high-quality staff.

“We may have to charge more, yes, but we have to deliver the quality of service,” he said.

As a member of the post-COVID Strategic Economic Advisory Council, Langevin has led a series of workshops between government and industry leaders on the needs of the tourism sector.

The number one recommendation coming out of that exercise was for a major reform of public transport.

“Housing in the George Town to West Bay corridor is full,” Langevin said. “Savannah, Prospect, Bodden Town is where people can afford to live but they can’t get to work without a car.

“Those issues still need to be addressed in the medium term.”