By the Caribbean Journal staff

Barbados has launched what it calls an Urban High-Rise Housing Programme, an initiative aimed at satisfying the growing demand for housing in the country.

The programme, which is a joint venture partnership between the National Housing Corporation and the private sector, is a new approach that is essentially unprecedented on the island.

The term high-rise is relative, of course. Buildings in the programme tend to be around six stories, and apartments are each about 700 square feet.

The country’s cabinet has agreed to the construction of 72 apartment units at Valerie, St Michael, and other high-rise projects appear to be in the cards through similar ventures.

“Right now we have a number of developments in the works,” said Roger Ward, project coordinator for the National Housing Corporation. “These include Mason Hall Street, Bridgetown, where 84 units are on the horizon, and we are currently working on Valerie, Collymore Rock, Exmouth, Deacons Road and the Grotto, Beckles Road.”

Ward said the corporation continued to receive “significant” applications for rental units, most of which are from the urban corridor.

The Urban High-Rise Programme has come in part due to what Ward called “the urgent need to provide new rental accommodation for low-income earners.”