From the rubble of failed housing project, new hope emerges

The site of a disastrous failed attempt to deal with Cayman’s affordable housing crisis could become the focal point of a revived effort to address the longstanding issue.

The overgrown foundations of demolished homes on the derelict streets of Apple Blossom Gardens, West Bay, offer a striking reminder of how a vision for a community of low-cost homes for needy families floundered.

Almost 20 years after the properties were built, the area resembles a ghost town. A few isolated houses remain, with the original occupants squatting inside. 

When the Compass visited the site as part of our investigative series on Cayman’s housing challenges last year, the occupants told us they have nowhere else to go.

The rest of the condemned buildings – damaged in Hurricane Ivan, and deemed unfit and unsafe for habitation – were razed nearly a decade ago.

Now government is seeking to get to grips with the problem.

From the rubble, Housing Minister Jay Ebanks sees the foundations of a new strategy emerging.

The forlorn site is one location of a planned island-wide building project that seeks to develop more than 200 new homes across the island, including 50 at Apple Blossom Gardens.

According to the National Housing Development Trust, there are currently more than 600 families on a waiting list for the homes –  available to low-income Caymanian households for less than $200,000.

‘They should never have been built’

Ebanks acknowledged there was a long way to go to address Cayman’s housing challenges.

But he said dealing with the lingering issue of the condemned homes in West Bay would be a good place to start.

“Those homes need to be condemned. I am ashamed to say, they are not fit for purpose and they should never have been built, to be honest.”

He said a planning application would go in shortly for a new development at the site. With roads and other infrastructure already in place and the land in housing trust ownership, he said it was an obvious place to start.

There were originally 69 homes built at the site off Birch Tree Hill Road as part of the island-wide project in the early 2000s.

But the homes have been beset by problems. They were not built to code and have suffered electrical and plumbing issues, among others. Many were damaged in Hurricane Ivan and, despite efforts to salvage some of them, they were ultimately deemed unsafe.

‘Nowhere else to go’

One family, squatting in the condemned housing, told the Compass they had no choice but to live in unsafe and unfit housing.

“I can’t go to work, I have no money, I cannot go to the bank and steal, I only pray to God help me, and the people have a good heart and come and help me,” Josepha Carter, 61, told us as part of our documentary, “Living on the Margins”.

Despite that home being condemned, charity Acts of Random Kindness invested in upgrading the property to make it safe for Carter, who has diabetes and a lung condition, and her large family.

Tara Nielsen, of ARK, welcomed the news that the housing development trust would soon rebuild the community.

But she said she hoped priority for the new homes would be given to people like Carter, who have nowhere else to go.

“Even if those homes are demolished we have no regrets about investing in improving that site. There was no functioning bathroom and the house was unsafe,” Nielsen said.

“The family had nowhere else to go and we had to make it safe.

“It is fantastic that they are rebuilding the properties. My only concern would be that the people most in need are not left behind.”

Julio Ramos, of the National Housing Development Trust, said any qualifying family could apply to be allocated a new home.

200 new homes

The West Bay site is one of several locations where work is planned over the coming years.

Similarly, a site close to the old Cox Lumber and now Blackbeard’s in George Town – also a location for the previous affordable housing that had to be demolished – will be redeveloped. Ebanks said government was looking for a contractor to come up with a ‘turnkey proposal’ for that site.

Along with a new development in North Side, which will break ground shortly, and a future site in East End, Ebanks said a total of 200 homes could be built within the next few years.

He cited affordable housing along with cost-of-living and traffic as the three greatest current challenges facing government.

Ebanks said cleaning up and revitalising the sites of previous failed housing projects and adding new developments in under-served districts would begin to address the social housing issue.

He said the homes were designed for those people “struggling in life” or for lower income families to get starter homes. 

Ramos confirmed seven homes had been recently completed in East End, with more planned in the district. He said groundbreaking would begin shortly on 45 homes in North Side and a further 19 at Lighthouse Gardens in West Bay.

The properties will be sold at $170,000 for two-bed, two-bath homes and $185,000 for three-bed, two-bath residences. Applicants must be Caymanian and earn less than $54,000 a year for single applicants and $72,000 a year for joint applicants.

New task force established

However, wider concerns about the viability of home ownership for Caymanians linger. 

Government has established a housing task force to look at solutions.

The task force includes representatives from the ministries of tourism and sustainability as well as the planning department.

Ebanks said the aim was to tap all available expertise to address the issue.

• In an occasional series, the Cayman Compass Issues section will revisit topics we have investigated in-depth to check on progress.

Compass series: Cayman’s housing crisis