Prefabricated homes to be built in Barbuda

The government is optimistic that the newly reconstituted Barbuda Council will support a development plan by a local entrepreneur to build prefabricated homes on the island given the need to boost the current housing stock.
Ray Farquhar, an Antiguan entrepreneur in the United States, is the investor behind the project.
In 2016, the businessman entered into an agreement with the Barbuda Council to construct a cultural park, museum, shops and an entertainment centre on the sister isle.
However, the government has since asked him to defer those plans and instead focus on providing homes for the residents of Barbuda.
Chief of Staff Lionel “Max” Hurst told reporters on Monday that about 40 prefabricated houses will be provided and sold to Barbudan families at a reasonable cost.
“The houses will be built at $224 per square foot; that is the price he reduced them to as a result of the cost of building in Barbuda. We can build at that cost as well so that this is not an excessive amount and the expectation is that these homes will be built in Barbuda,” Hurst said.
He said while the homes will be sold, the government will very likely distribute them with the objective of having teachers, nurses and other government workers in Barbuda being the first set of occupants.
 “The arrangement will be something like a rent-to-own so that the amounts which they pay in rent each month will go towards ownership eventually,” Hurst said.
Asked whether the newly reconstituted Barbuda Council would buy into the project, the government official said the government believes that this particular project will be given the nod in light of the current situation in Barbuda which was battered by Hurricane Irma last year.