Housing project set to get off ground Published on: 7/9/07. Prospective home-owners touring the model house built by Hardwood Housing Factory Inc. by Trevor Yearwood A programme to produce 400 timber houses yearly and address a critical shortage in Barbados looks set to hit the road soon.
"We have about 440 lots in prospect and by this time next year our target is to build 400 houses," said building boss Anthony Murrell. Murrell is chief executive officer of Hardwood Housing Factory Inc., a business that opened in St Philip last January, promising a sustained low-income home-building programme.
He told the the company had acquired several acres of land in Christ Church and St Peter, and with support from banking and mortgage institutions, was preparing to launch a major housing initiative. Murrell made the disclosure as the factory, which operates from Six Roads Industrial Park, staged an open day, showcasing a fully-furnished model house. Officials of the Barbados National Bank and the Barbados Mortgage Finance Company were on hand to talk to prospective home-owners about finance packages, while a representative of Croton Chambers (Nigel Bennett) offered legal advice.
Some companies in the home-building and furnishing market, including CLAJ Incorporated, A C Rentals, and D D Electrical, also told home-seekers about their offerings. Hardwood Housing is offering one-, two- and three-bedroom houses at $38 000, $48 000 and $56 000 respectively. The sizes are 420, 520 and 700 square feet.
It is also offering "housing solutions" houses as well as land at between $70 000 and $90 000 each, according to sales and marketing manager Samantha Robinson. Murrell said Hardwood Housing was all about speedy construction and affordable housing. The company uses nail-guns, rather than hammers, spray paint equipment instead of paint brushes and special hydraulic clamps to press boards together, factors which Murrell said sped up the construction.
It has the capability to build between 20 and 30 houses a month, Murrell said. "We don't think a person should be waiting for a house for a year," he added. "Three months should be the longest period, and that includes taking care of the legal and other paperwork, from raw land to finished house.
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