BY TERRON DEWAR Business reporter dewart@jamaicaobserver.com
THE University of the West Indies (UWI) has entered into a public private partnership (PPP) to build 1,584 rooms in three years to meet the growing demand for student accommodation.
The Jamaica Mortgage Bank (JMB), lead financier, and the National Commercial Bank (NCB) have signed a syndicate loan agreement valued $4 billion with the proposed developer and operator — 138 Student Living Jamaica Ltd — to build the facility on the university campus.
At the end of the project, the university will be able to house approximately 5,200 students.
Just over two years ago, the UWI completed the construction of two new halls of residence, adding another 1,000 rooms to its then existing batch of approximately 2,500.
The Mona campus now has a total of nine halls of residence, offering accommodation to only 3,600 of the almost 16,000 students who attend the university.
According to Jason McKensie, acting director of students’ services and development on the Mona campus, hall managers have reported that occupancy currently stands at 100 per cent.
The demand for student accommodation is equally as high at the neighbouring University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), which boasts a student population of approximately 14,000, and has less than 230 rooms on campus, with the majority of them being double and even triple occupancy spaces.
Much like UWI, hundreds of students are unsuccessful in their bid to secure a room at UTech yearly.
This unfulfilled demand has created a thriving rent market in the adjoining communities, with vacancies oftentimes being filled as soon as they are advertised for rent.
A representative at the Rent Assessment Board told the Business Observer that the institution is currently unable to quantify the number of households that offer rooms for rent in the area.
This is largely due to the non-compliance of landlords to register the properties with the board, as required by the Rent Restriction Act.
It is, however, believed that the houses that offer spaces for rent to students easily top the 1,500 mark, with owners sometimes offering their entire house for rent.
Private developers have also sought to get in on the action. Just three years ago, West Indies Home Construction Company opened a residential complex with 50 apartments within 1,000 metres of UWI’s main gate.
The complex, called Aqueduct Gates, has only two-and three-bedroom apartments that can be rented with or without furniture at $85,000 and $100,000 monthly, respectively.
While this facility is not exclusive to students, those who can afford to seek accommodation there, do. The complex is also now operating at maximum capacity.
Fees for on-campus housing span anywhere from $14,000 up to $42,000 monthly, across both universities, and are generally increased annually, in line with the inflation rate.
Much like that which obtains off-campus, prices are generally determined by the quality of the residential facilities and the number of people who share common spaces, and are inclusive of basic amenities such as electricity, water, Internet and laundry facilities.
Residential fees on the UTech, Jamaica campus are currently charged on an annual basis. It currently costs $126,000 per student for triple occupancy rooms and $173,000 each for double occupancy arrangements.
At the start of this school year, UWI adopted a policy of allowing students the option to pay their accommodation fees monthly.
At the higher end of the spectrum, students currently pay as much as $42,000 monthly for self-contained studio units, while double occupancy rooms on some traditional halls go for $21,000 monthly.
The UWI currently has a lodgings unit that has the mandate to help students to find accommodation off campus. The unit currently has a database of over 400 homeowners who offer spaces for rent annually.
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Massive demand for student housing
