The National Housing Trust (NHT) is one of the responsible agencies charged with the delivery of this national strategy. The NHT is charged with increasing and enhancing the stock of available housing in Jamaica for the benefit of its contributors, which involved establishing land bank to construct housing solutions, including service lots and finished houses. Ten years ago, the Auditor General’s Department completed a performance audit of the National Housing Trust (NHT) to determine the level of due diligence undertaken by NHT, prior to decisions pertaining to investments and land acquisitions for housing solution and made recommendations geared towards improvements in strategic investment planning and risk management, transparency and accountability, and effective governance and oversight. 

This follow-up audit  is intended to provide a progress update on recommendations from the prior audit. In addition, the performance audit will assess the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of NHT’s housing programmes by determining whether due diligence was exercised in land acquisitions, developer selection aligned with procurement guidelines and policy standards, housing developments were completed on time and within budget with proper monitoring, and whether the programmes effectively met contributors’ needs.  

We value your relevant comments to our audit which can be communicated by completing the relevant fields on our feedback form or email us at audgen@auditorgeneral.gov.jm. Please note that due to the volume of information received, we may not respond to you directly; however, we thank you in advance for your response.   

HAJ recorded net profits in FY2016/17 and FY2017/18, following three consecutive years of net losses. Between FY2013/14 and FY2015/16, expenses significantly exceeded revenues, given persistent delays in completing projects. This also contributed to liquidity challenges, although more than 51 per cent of HAJ projects were financed by public sector grants. The turn-around in financial performance in FY2016/17 and FY2017/18 resulted from HAJ’s strategic decision to focus on the completion of “stalled and incomplete projects” from previous periods. Consistent with industry norms, HAJ records revenue when properties are completed and sold, whereas costs are absorbed prior to sale. Sales revenue augmented by mortgage collections, are used to fund core operations, including development projects and the repayment of debt. At end FY2017/18, the National Housing Trust (NHT) held just over 95.0 per cent of HAJ’s debt. In FY2014/15, in order to cover expenses HAJ secured an overdraft facility of $150.0 million, which it later converted to a long-term loan, as it was unable to repay the facility within the stipulated time.