CEO of Investment firm Blue Mahoe Holdings, David Mullings, says his company is excited to help provide Jamaicans with more affordable housing options.

Speaking on Taking Stock with Kalilah Reynolds, Mullings revealed that Blue Mahow has partnered with a construction company to build 700 new homes in the Old Habour, St Catherine area.

Mullings said the company will use modular technology to keep construction costs low. He added that the new homes will be priced at J$8 million once construction is complete. 

“When you do somewhat prefab housing… it’s like Legos, you have all the pieces and just need to put them together. So it takes you about 28 days to do it on-site,” he explained.

A prefab home is constructed from factory-made pieces.

“When you’re building a home using modular technology, you can keep the cost down,” he explained.

He said this technology will help the company keep the sale price affordable.

“We’re pretty excited to be able to deliver homes at an $8 million price point in Jamaica where NHT (National Housing Trust) loans are $7.5 million and Jamaica National Bank is providing the mortgage,” Mullings said.

The CEO stressed that these housing were being built specifically for resident Jamaicans to purchase. Mullings noted that while many people in the diaspora are interested in purchasing homes in Jamaica for when they return, it has left a vacuum for Jamaicans living at home.

Increased competition for affordable housing tends to price out Jamaicans who can not afford $20 -30 million homes.

Mullings said they expect to break ground on the construction in February. The first phase of construction will see 250 units being built, then 200 and then the remaining 250 in phase three. He said the homes are not for sale yet, however, a model home has been made and will soon be available for the public to see.

The units will all be bedrooms with additional space for future build-outs.

“The one bedrooms are somewhere in the 440 square foot range on a 2,400-foot lot. So it’s designed for you to scale up it’s literally a starter home,” he said.

Mullings added that once the construction and sale of the homes in Jamaica are complete, the company will repeat the process with two and three-bedroom houses in Barbados.