D.F.C. promotes new Ladyville housing project

The Ministry of Housing might be slowly working its way up to the promise of ten thousand homes but that’s not stopping construction on other housing projects in and around Belize City. On Saturday January eighth, it’ll be open day at the Development Finance Corporation’s “Los Lagos” housing project on the Northern Highway. The house and land combo is drawing attention, and the D.F.C. is hoping that signed mortgage papers won’t be far behind.

If the CUBEL houses didn’t catch your eye, then maybe the “Los Lagos” homes will. Abraham Williams, credit officer for the Development Finance Corporation, D.F.C., says people are interested but making the twelve-mile journey to the housing project’s site is a problem for some people.

Abraham Williams, Credit Officer, D.F.C.

“We have had a lot of inquires and stuff but the problem sometimes is that they don’t really see the houses because of the distance. Those who have vehicles, come up and we take them in and they look at the houses.”

By June, 2002, four hundred and seventy houses will be built in “Los Lagos”. To date, forty houses are completed and eight Belizeans are already holding the keys to their new homes. Building so many homes at the same time is no small task and requires a lot of planning, especially when it comes to ordering materials. Project Manager Bob Rowan, of Johnston International, says there’s no skimping but there’s also no splurging.

Bob Rowan, Project Manager

“On any project this size with so many units, a few dollars on one house, you’ve got to find it for seventy houses, can make a reasonable difference to the overall cost.”

The housing scheme is expected to draw Belizeans out of the congested city and into a planned paradise. There are four designs to choose from and they vary in size. Seventy percent of the homes are going to be of the “El Sueno” style, a three bedroom, one bathroom casa. But the pretty house does cost a pretty penny. “El Sueno” costs seventy-one thousand dollars or approximately seven hundred ninety-seven dollars a month for the next twenty-five years. The prices of the other three homes range from a high of eighty-seven thousand dollars to a low of sixty-one thousand. Average monthly payments vary from about six hundred and eighty dollars to around nine hundred and seventy dollars. But at the end the twenty-five year contribution period, the house and land will be your property. Williams adds that these payments do include life and house insurance.

Abraham Williams

“The life insurance is if the borrower should die, then the insurance just pay off the remaining balance of the loan. The building insurance is in case the house is destroyed by hurricane or fire, the insurance replaces the building.”

If you’re interested today, you could be holding the keys to a new home in about a week’s time. All you need is a valid ID and verification of your income.

Abraham Williams

“The qualifications would be based on one’s income and the income would be ranging somewhere between seventeen hundred dollars and say three thousand dollars.

D.F.C. is financing a hundred percent, whatever the cost of the value of the property is, D.F.C. finance that. But D.F.C. is appreciate, if the borrowers would assist with the legal cost, the preparation of the legal cost, legal fees, the preparation of the documents.”

In addition to the forty houses already completed, another ninety are under construction. Basic infrastructure such as water, electricity and roads are already in place. Janelle Chanona for News Five.

Commercial plots at Los Lagos are also available. The open house starts at eight in the morning at mile twelve and a half on the Northern Highway. Refreshments will be served and D.F.C. personnel will be available to answer questions and take applications.