The United Workers Party (UWP) has announced plans to dedicate $20 million from Saint Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) to assist young Saint Lucians with homeownership by funding loan deposits.
The initiative, unveiled as part of the party’s broader economic platform, is being hailed by supporters as a transformative step toward expanding access to housing but has also prompted questions about its feasibility amid the current low-interest lending environment.
UWP Castries South MP and economist Tommy Descartes explained that the proposed measure is designed to unlock significant financial activity in the local banking sector.
“The United Workers Party will set aside $20 million from the CIP so that you can use it as deposits when you go and apply for a loan,” Descartes said.
“Now, that will transform your life. What we will do with 20 million dollars, we will unlock 400 million dollars in the banking sector for you.”
Describing the program as a “catalyst for generational wealth,” Descartes said the initiative targets one of the biggest obstacles facing young Saint Lucians, the inability to afford down payments on mortgage loans.
However, economist and social commentator Richard Peterkin cautioned that lowering mortgage rates further may not be easily achievable given existing economic conditions.
“I think it would be a good program if it could bring mortgage rates down,” Peterkin said. “I do not believe they can come down that much further at this point in time, but I do understand there’s a lot of liquidity, so there is some scope for it.”
Peterkin added that the real challenge lies in addressing the overall cost of housing rather than focusing solely on interest rates.
“We need to approach the cost of acquiring and building houses and the extent to which some of those costs can be rolled into the loans,” he explained. “Even if the rate had to stay at around six percent, it would still be affordable.”
He also emphasized that stagnant wages continue to limit housing access for many young Saint Lucians.
“A lot of young people are making salaries and wages that do not allow them to afford the cost of housing, which is going up and up and up: the cost to build, the cost to buy,” Peterkin noted. “It’s very difficult to make ends meet.”
Still, he acknowledged that using CIP funds to ease housing pressures could have social benefits. “The extent to which we can use CIP for social programs like that would certainly be in good stead,” Peterkin said. “If in fact we could put funding into some of the institutions that are mortgage lenders, that would pick up some of those costs that are high, then that would be a good result as well.”
As the UWP continues to make its case ahead of the next election, the proposed CIP-backed homeownership plan has sparked debate over the balance between social equity and financial sustainability.