Ministerial Statement by Finance Minister E. Jay Saunders on Home Owner’s Policy

Delivered in the House of Assembly on March 17, 2022

#TurksandCaicos, March 24, 2022 – Mr. Speaker, on the 16th February 2022, Cabinet approved amendments to the First Time Home Owner’s Policy, aimed at assisting in promoting homeownership for Turks & Caicos Islands Status Holders and BOTCs, with commencement set for the 1st April 2022.

Mr. Speaker, our Government’s First Time Home Owner’s Policy allows first time property buyers, and persons renovating their homes after 10 years, to receive $50,000 in Stamp Duty and Import Duty concessions.

Now Mr. Speaker, this policy was first rolled out in 2019 by the then Government of the day, and unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it had a low uptake. Specifically, Mr. Speaker, during the period April 2019 to January 2022, the Ministry of Finance received approximately 100 applications, with 80 being approved for concessions totaling $570,000.

The breakdown of the concessions awarded are:

• 31 Stamp Duty Waivers for a total of $441,035, and
• 49 Import Duty Waivers for a total of $129,897.

Mr. Speaker, the previous Government had this policy in place for 34 months, and during that time less than 3 persons per month benefitted from it, with the average payout being approximately $17,000.

Mr. Speaker, our enhancements remove many, if not all, of the nuisances and obstacles that made the old policy unattractive. In addition to increasing the concession amount from $20,000 to $50,000, our Government also:

1. Allows concessions to be applied to both Stamp Duty and Import Duties rather than one or the other, and
2. Removed the restrictions limiting concessions to land purchases of $150,000 or less, and land + building purchases of $500,000 or less.

Mr. Speaker, imagine that. The old policy actually had restrictions that limited the concessions to land purchases of $150,000 or less, and land + building purchases of $500,000 or less. Mr. Speaker, as the previous Government crafted and/or signed off on this policy, this is tantamount to them intentionally punishing Turks & Caicos Islanders for wanting to own nice property. Mr. Speaker, the old policy basically said to Turks & Caicos Islanders (particularly Turks & Caicos Islanders) that if they could afford to buy land worth more than $150,000 or land + a building worth more than $500,000, that the Government didn’t think that they deserved the concession.

Mr. Speaker, our Government want Turks & Caicos Islanders to Live Best Lives, and that’s why we took a Red Pen to First Time Home Owner’s Policy. When we got to the restrictions that punished our people for wanting to own nice property, we told the Technocrats to “take it out!!!”. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, I didn’t even wait for them to do it, I took it out myself.

Mr. Speaker, our desire to empower Turks & Caicos Islanders through property ownership didn’t stop at the First Time Home Owner’s Policy. We went further Mr. Speaker. Our Government also increased the Zero-Rated transactions under the Stamp Duty Ordinance from $25,000.00 to $100,000.00 for Turks & Caicos Islanders. Going forward, Turks & Caicos Islanders who purchase property worth $100,000.00 or less will pay zero (0) Stamp Duty. And those who purchase property for greater than that amount on: the islands of Grand Turk, Salt Cay, South Caicos, North Caicos and Middle Caicos, will pay a Stamp duty rate of just 4 per cent, and Providenciales and elsewhere in the Turks and Caicos Islands, just 6 per cent.

Mr. Speaker, with these policies, our Government just made private land as affordable for Turks & Caicos Islanders as Crown land. Mr. Speaker, we said that we will have people living their best lives, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.