Former Attorney General Alfred Sears, QC, is demanding the government provide a promised rebate to residents of Ardastra Estates 3, for what he claims are inflated purchase prices.
Pointing to comments made by Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis during House of Assembly proceedings last week, at which time he said his administration lowered the purchase price of lots in a Fort Charlotte subdivision because he thought it was too high, Sears said the government must also provide remediation of mortgages with the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation.
Sears revealed that of the 60 homes that comprise Ardastra Gardens 3, 85 to 90 percent of the homeowners took occupancy of their homes after May 2017 and to date, only approximately six homeowners have received the rebates promised by the prime minister.
“The minister of housing disclosed in the House of Assembly on January 23, 2019, that the houses in this subdivision were inflated between $13,980.00 and $18,650.00. For example, Mr. Anthony Strachan and Mrs. Tiffany Strachan purchased Lot #56 in Ardastra Gardens in 2017 at a purchase price of $167,600.00 and entered a mortgage with the mortgage corporation in the amount of $176,242. One year later, the Strachans had their home appraised and the appraisal established that their home was valued 40 percent less than what they had paid for the home,” Sears said in a press release yesterday.
“It is inexplicable why the government has not provided any rebates to the residents of the Ardastra subdivision, in light of the public admission of the minister of housing and the prime minister that the price at which the government sold these homes was not a “fair price” to achieve the public policy and statutory objectives of the Ministry of Housing.”
While starting a debate on a resolution for the development for a subdivision for young professionals, the prime minister said, “There is a subdivision developed in the Fort Charlotte area, by the former government. Individuals were charged as high as $182,000 for such homes within that area. When we came in, we felt that was too high and we subsequently dropped the price to $140,000.
“It’s unfortunate that those who went under the PLP are paying up to $182,000 and those who went in under the FNM are paying $140,000. But so be it, we can’t change that.”
Parliamentarians last week passed a resolution to develop 250 lots at approximately 9,500 square feet on an 83-acre parcel of land in the Prospect Ridge area.
The lots are being sold to young, professional, Bahamian first-time homeowners for between $40,000 and $50,000 and the development will feature walking paths, two parks, a community center and swimming pool, according to the prime minister.
Sears said these features are unfair given that the residents of Ardastra Gardens 3 have yet to see the promised amenities of their subdivision.
“Further, in Ardastra Gardens 1, 2 and 3, there are no green spaces although there is a provision for common space on the subdivision plan adjacent to lots 28A and 28B. Therefore, children in the community have to play in the road at the peril of their lives,” he said.
“There is no signage at the entrance of the subdivision and no names of some streets within the subdivision. Why has the government, as developer and seller, failed to fulfill its contractual and statutory obligations?”
Sears demanded the construction of green public spaces in Ardastra Estates 3 and the erection of street names and signage at the entrance of subdivision.
Sears said homeowners also found that the homes they purchased had defects once they moved into them and as such has demanded the government provide immediate remediation of existing defects in the homes, including relocation expenses if necessary and the reimbursement of expenditures by residents to cure documented defects.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/qc-demands-rebates-for-govt-subdivision-homeowners/
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