Page 62 - PNM General Election 2020 Manifesto

The strategy will facilitate investment in industry, and stimulate the building materials
construction, particularly housing development, by manufacturing, distribution and transportation
the private sector and make it much easier for the sectors.
private sector to access tax incentives for private
building and housing development. The objective is
to reduce the time for the entire building approvals
process to 6 months and the time for obtaining
approval for tax incentives to 3 months.

The construction sector is a key sector of the
economy, contributing significantly to employment
generation and social stability and capacity
expansion. It comprises a wide range of small,
medium, and large firms and individuals egged in a
variety of activities, including the building, repair
and maintenance of houses, commercial/industrial Although the HDC over its life has delivered over
buildings, schools, hospitals, ports, airports, energy 50,000 housing units, the number of applications
plants, roads, bridges, dams, and sewer systems. It over time for residential housing is over 175,000.
also includes such secondary services as the mining, 80% of the applicants earn $12,000 per month or
manufacture, and transportation of construction less and most of them can only afford a house
materials. costing between $350,000 and $650,000. In fact,
many applicants can realistically only afford a house
The human resource required is a complex costing $250,000. The remaining 20% of applicants
combination of professional, academic, technical, in the income range $12,000 to $25,000 per month
and vocational skills all collaborating to develop can afford a house valued between $700,000 and
essential infrastructure for national development. $1.5M. The drive must be to promote housing
The sector impacts large sections of the population construction in both the public and private sector.
in a positive manner, but sometimes the impact is
adverse on account of the absence of appropriate The individual needs for housing also vary from
regulations. basic upgrades, repair and replacement of roofing,
plumbing, electrical wiring, doors and windows, site
drainage, site access and addition of rooms and
bathrooms, to village improvement, construction of
starter homes and middle-income homes, and
development of serviced residential building lots.
All of these issues will be addressed with innovative
and progressive incentives and stimuli.

The PNM will implement a number of policies to
address this burning issue, including the
accelerated construction and delivery of 25,000
new homes on state lands over a period of 10 years
in the following cost brackets.
In particular, the residential housing sector has
tremendous unrealized demand, especially in the • Starter Homes (target 10,000 units): $250,000
lower and middle-income segments of the market. Þ A monthly payment of $925 with a zero
This is one of the most pressing issues of our times downpayment
and in focusing on this sector, the PNM will not only
address the acute demand for housing but will
quickly generate new jobs, revive the construction

59
PNM THE RIGHT CHOICE ON AUGUST 10 People’s National Movement Manifesto 2020