Bryan discusses affordable housing for tourism workers Loop Cayman Islands

Black Immigrant Daily News

Speaking at the Cayman Islands Tourism Association’s annual general meeting at the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort on October 20, 2022, Minister for Tourism, Kenneth Bryan, noted that he was aware of concerns that the CITA president raised about the challenges faced by tourism workers in finding affordable accommodation.

As to the source of the problem, real estate speculation is often blamed as one of the factors driving the high prices. In addition, the cost of living has steadily increased in other areas, as demonstrated by the rising consumer price index published by the Economics & Statistics Office for the first three quarters of 2022.

Exacerbating the situation is that hundreds of new hotel workers may need to be brought in from overseas over the next 24 months to fill jobs as new hotels come online. These new staff members may drive up the demand for accommodation and, perhaps, further push up rental and home ownership prices.

Addressing the problem, Bryan said: “I’ve reached out to Minister Jay Ebanks and asked for an understanding as to what solutions are being worked on and whether there is anything within my power that can be done to ensure that our tourism workers have the necessary housing.”

How the issue of affordable accommodation for tourism workers is addressed by the government may be ticklish for Caymanians, however, since some Caymanians are finding it difficult to find affordable homes themselves.

Regarding the struggle faced by Caymanians, Minister for Housing, Jay Ebanks, has been trying to help Caymanians through a number of initiatives offered by the National Housing Development Trust. These plans include more modern and better quality, affordable homes in various districts.

However, the experience to date is that many more Caymanians have submitted applications than there are affordable homes available (indicating that demand by Caymanians for affordable homes is far greater than anticipated). In the circumstances, it may be the case that some Caymanian applicants may have to wait until the next go-round of affordable housing construction to be considered for a home within an affordable housing community.

Acknowledging the difficult issue, Bryan said that government recognizes “that housing has been a growing problem in the Cayman Islands” and the members of government have been “working closely together to find solutions.”

Offering a solution, one member of the public attending the CITA meeting told Loop that “more infrastructure fees should be collected from developers or developers should be asked to build a certain number of affordable housing units” when they are constructing large new hotels or other buildings. This way, developers would be doing their part to contribute to the number of affordable housing units on the market.

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