On Wednesday morning, the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Drs. René Herdé, gave a presentation regarding the serious housing crisis that Aruba is facing.
Currently, it is estimated that the demand for housing is around 8,000 homes, while there are only about 360 plots of land available for construction. In addition, the government is still processing applications that date back to 2013, which indicates that the demand for affordable housing is much greater than what the government can offer through available land plots or through homes from FCCA.
The demand for housing continues to grow, especially among young couples looking for their first home. Many families are forced to continue living with relatives for longer periods due to the lack of housing. A stable housing market is essential for the social stability and economic development of a country.
To respond to this challenge, a new affordable housing policy has been proposed that focuses on using land more efficiently and accelerating the construction of homes. Among the measures is the division of land plots into three different categories: small, medium, and large. This will allow more homes to be built on the same amount of land.
For example, small plots can be developed with semi-detached houses (“twee-onder-één-kap”), which would increase the number of homes without requiring additional land.
At the same time, new construction regulations are being proposed to make housing more financially accessible, along with measures to prevent speculation, such as the requirement to show proof of financing and a deadline to start construction.
With this policy, the housing potential could increase from 360 to approximately 580 homes, with the goal of building more affordable housing in a shorter period of time and reducing the waiting list for families in Aruba.
According to Minister Herdé, this long-term vision and policy represents an important step toward modernizing the system for granting land and achieving a more stable and balanced housing market for Aruba’s future generations