Kralendijk- The Executive Council of the Public Entity Bonaire, in close cooperation with Kingdom Government in The Hague and the Cas Boneriano Foundation (FCB) hopes to realize the rapid construction of 500 houses for lower-income families. Agreements for the construction project have been finalized in the Government Agreement signed 2 weeks ago between local government and State Secretary, Raymond Knops.

Bonaire urgently needs a large number of (new) rental properties. Previous studies have shown that about 1,200 rental properties are needed to meet the demand. The plan is to build 500 lower-income rental homes in approximately 4 to 5 years. The Government of Bonaire has designated a number of locations for the new building. In June 2018, the Island Council decided to build roads and other infrastructure to facilitate the construction of 500 new rental units.

The Dutch Government is making 2.5 million euros available from the so called Regional Envelope for the construction of roads near the 500 social housing units. The Ministry of the Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations (BZK) has made 470,000 euros available for the construction of the first 76 homes. The houses will be build by FCB. Local Government and Kingdom Government are jointly preparing a plan for total financing to guarantee the construction of the 500 homes and the necessary infrastructure in the vicinity of these houses.

Rent subsidy for lower income
The Executive Council says they are pleased that they have also reached an agreement with The Hague on the introduction of rent subsidies. A new system to subsidize especially lower-income families will be introduced within 2 years.

Another novelty when it comes to the neesd for more housing onn Bonaire is the introduction in 2019 of a pilot program to provide mortgage guarantees.