Five hundred (500) applicants from the public housing database moved one step closer to home ownership when they were selected for assessment interviews during the Housing Draw that was hosted live by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the Trinidad and Tobago Housing Development Corporation (HDC) on Wednesday June 03. These 500 applicants were selected from a database of 180,000 applicants.
The random Housing Draw which was conducted, adopts the same format as any draw or form of lottery where names or numbers are selected randomly. In this case, the selection is done by a computer, which then lists the name and reference number on the screen.
According to HDC Managing Director Brent Lyons, “anyone who has had an application in the database, has the opportunity to be randomly selected. The result is simply the ‘luck of the draw’. This is why in some cases, some of the selected names span many time periods; some individuals may have applied ten years, four years ago or even three months ago.” Lyons underscored however that the selection via this draw gets these individuals an assessment interview but they must still satisfy several criteria (inclusive of financial) before a house is allocated.
The HDC’s Allocations Department will contact the five hundred (500) individuals who were selected for assessment interviews to begin the process. Within the next two weeks, the second live Housing Draw will be conducted, where an additional 600 applicants will be selected from the database.
In addition to modified random draws which account for 60% of allocations per community, the Allocation Policy provides for a 25% allocation for emergency cases or those recommended by the Minister; 10% allocation to members of the protective service and defence force; and 5% for the elderly and persons with disabilities.
To be eligible for public housing, applicants must be twenty-one (21) years and over, resident citizens with a combined household income of under $25,000 and must not own any property.
Auditors from PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) supervised Wednesday’s draw.
