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Monday, June 1, 2026
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Housing grows ‘1.5 times slower’ over vacancy and disrepair woes BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas’ housing inventory grew “1.5 times slower” over the 12 years to 2022 when compared to the previous decade, it has been revealed, with the decline blamed on a reduced pace of new-builds as well as more properties falling into disrepair and tenant-weary landlords. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in a just-released March 2026 study on home affordability and ownership in The Bahamas, disclosed that growth in this nation’s affordable housing stock fell by 8,571 units during the period between 2010 to 2022 when compared to the decade from 2000 to 2010. It asserted that there are numerous factors behind the slowdown in the growth of available housing, including a fall-off in new construction but also an increasing number of properties falling into disrepair as more than 40 percent
of The Bahamas’ existing housing inventory was built before 1990 more than 35 years ago. Compounding the effect of an aging housing inventory, residential mortgage commitments for repairs and additions to existing homes plunged by 14 percent over the decade to 2024. And the IDB report also disclosed that “stubborn levels” of vacant properties are worsening The Bahamas’ housing availability and affordability woes. While there were more than 20,000 vacant properties in this nation in 2022, the multilateral lender sounded a mild positive by suggesting the issue is “not getting worse”, and attributed this problem to a combination of bank foreclosures, growth in Airbnb vacation rental-style homes, and fed-up landlords frustrated with delinquent tenants and reluctant to re-let. The study also said much new construction data is not captured by the Central Bank’s building completion
statistics, as these reflected just 7,208 residential completions over the 12-year period from 2010 to 2022 a number representing just 41 percent of of what was recorded in the Bahamas National Statistical Institute’s (BNSI) 2022 housing. It suggested that there is “a high degree of regulatory avoidance”, with persons adding units and other spaces on to their existing homes without obtaining building permits and/or in violation of zoning regulations. Bahamians are increasingly converting parts of their homes and residential properties into rental units, such as efficiencies, and using tenant lease payments to cover the mortgage and other daily living costs. Housing affordability and availability were two central issues during the general election campaign with both major political parties pledging to make increased use of private sector developers and capital to build more homes. Keith Bell, minister of
Carmichael Village owners told: Your homes are safe BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Ministry of Housing has moved to reassure Carmichael Village purchasers that their homes and investments are safe while asserting it knew nothing of the connections linking the project’s contractor to the general election day plane crash drug accused. The ministry, in a statement e-mailed by Keith Bell, minister of housing and land reform, to Tribune Business, said existing residents - as well as prospective purchasers of homes in one of the Government’s flagship affordable housing subdivisions - “are
KEITH BELL not affected” by the fallout from this newspaper’s revelation that Complete Construction is almost 100 percent owned by Top Notch Builders.
REASSURE - See Page B7
Just 16% of Gov’t entities met Budget plan mandate BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net JUST 16 percent of the Government’s ministries, departments, agencies and business entities (GBEs) heeded the Ministry of Finance’s call to submit annual and business plans as part of the 2026-2027 Budget preparations, it has been revealed, sparking pledges of a compliance crackdown. The Fiscal Strategy Report 2026, released alongside last week’s Budget for the upcoming fiscal year, promised that
MICHAEL HALKITIS the Ministry of Finance will “strengthen its approach” to reporting compliance by all government entities
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housing and land reform, said in 2024 that The Bahamas was suffering from a shortage of some 12,000 housing units. “The housing stock grew much more slowly in the last decade compared to the previous one,” the IDB study asserted. “Nationally, the number of dwellings increased by 17,705 units or an average of 1.2 percent per year between 2010 and 2022, while the population increased by an average of 1.1 percent per year. “This contrasts to the 2000-2010 period when, with a higher population growth of 1.6 percent per year, the housing stock grew more than twice as fast at 2.6 percent per year, representing an additional 26,276 dwelling units. When controlling for the slower population growth in the last decade, housing stock growth was still 1.5 times slower than in the previous one. “While the recent slowing in the growth of the
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Taxpayers owed $500m by lossmaking SOEs Nine key entities in ‘negative equity’ as debts exceed assets BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN taxpayers are owed half-a-billion dollars in outstanding loans by loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs), it has been revealed, with nine key government entities collectively plunging into “negative equity” with debt liabilities exceeding their assets. The Government’s just-published Fiscal Strategy Report 2026, which accompanies the Budget, again highlighted the fiscal risks and drag posed by SOEs after a so-called “health check” on nine of the most prominent ones revealed they had suffered “a sharp deterioration in” their combined solvency during the 2023-2024 period. The combined debt-toasset ratio for the nine, who are Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), Bahamasair, the Water & Sewerage Corporation, the National
Insurance Board (NIB), Airport Authority, Bahamas Development Bank, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) and National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB), rose from 46-49 percent between 2020 to 2022 to more than 100 percent in 2023 to 2024. This signalled that, collectively, their combined debts were greater than their total assets, which financial analysts universally agree is a warning of potential imminent insolvency. And the same tipping point was reached on the nine’s combined debt-to-equity ratio, which turned negative in 2023 and 2024, thus indicating that liabilities exceed assets - a sure sign of financial distress and challenges in meeting debt service obligations. The Davis administration, which has signalled it intends to place increasing
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