By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

DURING his mid-year budget communication yesterday, Prime Minister Perry Christie said his government is a step closer toward providing long-promised mortgage relief to Bahamians.

“The government has held considerable discussion with clearing banks on mortgage relief and an associated memorandum of understanding,” Mr Christie said in the House of Assembly.

“The required steps will now be taken to move forward with the legislation currently before the House of Assembly, as well as to introduce a new mortgage policy initiative which together should set the framework for meaningful mortgage relief in The Bahamas. This would not preclude any of the clearing banks from pursuing on a unilateral basis their own mortgage relief initiatives.”

Providing mortgage relief was a major tenant of the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) 2012 Charter for Governance. Ahead of the May 2012 general election, the PLP campaigned that it had a plan to give relief to thousands of struggling homeowners facing foreclosure.

However, once the party was elected to office the plan fizzled.

The Christie administration introduced a mortgage relief plan in late 2012. At the time, 4,000 homeowners were in mortgage payment arrears and that year, State Minister for Finance Michael Halkitis said around 1,000 people would likely qualify for assistance under the plan.

However, in May 2013, Mr Christie told the House of Assembly he expected “four or five” homeowners to benefit from the scheme.

In responding to Mr Christie’s communication, Free National Movement (FNM) Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest said he is sceptical of whether the government’s mortgage relief plan will ever help Bahamians.

“We’ve been talking about mortgage relief for four years with no proposal put forward,” he said. “What’s been talked about today is more of the same. Those who can already afford to make arrangements with their private lending institutions will benefit and those who find themselves under or unemployed will continue to lose their homes. Of note is that the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation (BMC), an agency controlled by the government, is also foreclosing on mortgages. If there is to be any assistance given, one would expect that the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation would be the first place we would see evidence of relief.”