Housing, Land Ownership, Social Protection, LIFT, STEP and People Empowerment
Every citizen deserves a safe and stable home. We are addressing housing affordability, expanding social safety nets, and empowering citizens through programmes that foster financial stability and self-sufficiency. Citizens can now access mortgages from indigenous financial institutions with a 0% down payment, while the Build and Thrive RESET provides duty exemptions and a reduced 13% VAT rate on building materials for renovations up to EC$500,000. Social Security pensions have risen to EC$500 monthly, the Funeral Grant has increased by 40% to EC$3,500, and the LIFT programme has replaced the former Poverty Alleviation Programme with streamlined monthly support for seniors. Through the L.A.N.D. Initiative, land regularisation in La Guerite, New Amsterdam and St. Paul’s, and the Federation’s first National Disability Policy, we are building a foundation of support for individuals and families across the Federation.
Achievements: August 2022 – July 2026
Housing, Land & Home Ownership
- Enabled citizens to access mortgages from indigenous financial institutions with a 0% down payment.
- Granted duty-free concessions on building materials for renovations.
- Extended the Build and Thrive building-material RESET through 31 December 2025, providing duty and service-charge exemptions and a reduced 13% VAT rate for qualifying renovations and repairs up to EC$500,000.
- Delivered the Independence RESET package, including a one-time EC$1,000 Social Security payment, immediate electricity and water reconnections, elimination of NHC arrears penalties, residential-land interest relief and building-material concessions for first-time homeowners and renovators.
- Launch of the Smart Housing Programme.
- Completed and distributed two (2) model Climate Smart homes constructed by East Coast Housing Development Ltd, in partnership with the National Housing Corporation (NHC) – March 2025.
- Revamped the land-distribution programme.
- Hosted the Ministry of Sustainable Development’s Land Allocation, Normalisation and Distribution Fair to address land-related matters.
- Strengthened land security and equity through regularisation initiatives in La Guerite, New Amsterdam and St. Paul’s, alongside the wider L.A.N.D. Initiative and Land Regularisation Programme.
- Introduced a new Residential L.A.N.D. programme.
- Transitioned farmers from the Racecourse area in Newton Ground to facilitate the construction of National Housing Corporation (NHC) homes, marking tangible progress under the Land Transition Programme and supporting expanded access to residential development.
- Advanced reform of the Housing and Social Development Levy through the Housing and Social Development Levy (Amendment) Act, 2024.
- Amended the Housing and Social Development Levy to exempt employees earning up to EC$520 weekly, protecting workers just above the EC$500 minimum wage from reduced take-home pay.
Wages, Pensions & Social Security
- Increased salaries for civil servants and pensions for pensioners by 8%, effective January 2024.
- Applied a 10% salary increase for staff at the National Housing Corporation (NHC).
- Paid double salary to civil servants and auxiliary workers.
- Paid a one-month Christmas salary bonus to civil servants, Government Auxiliary Employees, pensioners and STEP workers in 2023.
- Paid a Workers’ Bonus of EC$500 to all non-civil servants (December 2023).
- Increased monthly Social Security pensions from EC$430 to EC$500 for contributory pensioners, and from EC$250 to EC$350 for non-contributory pensioners, effective January 2024.
- Increased the Funeral Grant by 40%, from EC$2,500 to EC$3,500, effective January 2024.
- Paid two CBI dividend payments of EC$500 to all Social Security contributors.
- Paid a one-time EC$1,000 benefit to Social Security contributors for the Federation’s 40th Anniversary of Independence.
- Reinstated gratuity payments to retired Government Auxiliary Employees (2024).
- Extended pension eligibility to Government Auxiliary Employees and other monthly paid government workers employed on or after 18 May 2012.
- Enacted the Government Auxiliary Employees (Amendment) Act, 2025, extending eligibility for the new pension plan to GAEs and ending their longstanding exclusion from the public-sector pension framework.
- Delivered EC$250 monthly Budget Boost Wallet payments from January to June 2025 to eligible persons earning under EC$5,000 per month.
Social Programmes & Empowerment
- Established a financial and education savings programme that provides citizens with EC$1,000 savings accounts, opportunities to invest in shares of government majority-owned companies, and financial education for youth.
- Provided financial education and EC$1,000 to each child aged 5 to 18 through ASPIRE, divided between savings and shares in local entities.
- Launched the Livelihood Improvement for Family Transformation (LIFT) Programme, transforming the former Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP).
- Streamlined LIFT monthly payments through partnership with the St. Christopher and Nevis Social Security Board and the Ministry of Social Development and Gender Affairs, to administer payments to seniors approved for assistance across the nation.
- Reformed the PEACE Programme.
- Established the Alternative Pathways Lifestyle Programme (APLP) to replace the PEACE Programme.
- Launched the Elevate Programme to replace the Alternative Lifestyle Pathways Programme.
- Institutionalised the rehabilitation of former prisoners through effective “Second Chance” programmes.
- Reinstated the Royal St. Christopher & Nevis Police Force MAGIC (Mentoring, Advising, Guiding, Instructing Children) Programme at the Joshua Obadiah Primary School.
- Strengthened the St. Kitts and Nevis National Youth Service Programme to provide young people with valuable work and life experience.
- Trained 27 caregivers through a collaboration between the Skills Training Empowerment Programme and Rivers Career College Canada.
- Implemented a new wage-sharing framework under the Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP), requiring long-term private sector beneficiaries to assume partial responsibility for employee wages. This reform improves the programme’s sustainability while maintaining employment support for participants.
- Expanded elderly care by using community centres to provide day programmes with recreational and entertainment activities.
- Expanded the Seniors Daycare Programme to Lodge, Tabernacle and Sandy Point.
- Tabled the Federation’s first National Disability Policy, establishing a 2026 to 2030 framework for accessibility, education, healthcare, employment, social protection and the rights of persons with disabilities.