THE BOTTOM – The Public Entity Saba has secured funding to help the most vulnerable communities on Saba to renovate and improve their homes to ensure they are safe during extreme weather such as heavy rainfall, storms and hurricanes. The Saba Renovation Grant will be open for applications in 2025.

The funding was received from the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning as part of the Housing Fund (Volkshuisvestingsfonds), that has been made available for the BES-islands for the first time.

The costs of home maintenance and repairs are high on Saba, and the challenges posed by extreme weather are serious, with the hurricane season lasting between June and November.

“By making funding available for those unable to cover the repairs to their homes themselves, fully or in part, we want to make sure no one lives in unsafe housing on Saba,” stated Commissioner of Housing, Eviton Heyliger.

Urgent cases

For the remainder of the hurricane season, the focus will be on improving urgent cases already known to the Public Entity. From 2025 the Saba Renovation Grant will be opened up for applications.

More details on the eligibility and application process will be made available later this year.