National Housing Development Trust

Dawn Howe

The National Housing Development Trust (NHDT) of Cayman Islands is a government-owned company whose mandate is to assist low-income families to buy homes. The Ministry of Planning, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure is responsible for the company.

It offers two services: the Affordable Housing Initiatives (AHI), through which government pays for the construction of affordable homes and then sells them to qualified applicants; and the Government Guaranteed Home Assisted Mortgage (GGHAM), which is a program funded by the Government to assist Caymanians with home ownership by guaranteeing 35% of the deposit required to service a mortgage.

Beginning life as the Affordable Housing Initiative under then Community Affairs minister Frank McField, the programme has been fraught with problems from the start. The AHI was launched by the Untied Democratic Party when it was in government and was managed by the National Housing and Community Development Trust (NHCDT). The Office of the Auditor General produced two damning reports, OAG Special Report of the Auditor General on the Affordable Housing Initiative – Aug 2004 and Jan 2005 (which also provides background to the AHI) and OAG -Special Forensic Audit Report on the NHCDT – August 2005. Following these reports, the finances surrounding the AHI were investigated by the Financial Crime Unit of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) but in January 2009, the RCIPS announced that there was not enough evidence for charges to be brought.

General Manager: Julio Ramos
Address: 118 Dorcy Drive, Cayman Center, George Town, Grand Cayman
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2379, Grand Cayman KY1-1105, CAYMAN ISLANDS
Telephone: (345) 945-7649
Fax: (345) 945-7679
Email: NHDT@gov.ky
Website

Hours: 9:00am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday.

Portfolio: Ministry of Planning, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure