The acquisition of property obtained in a just way helps guarantee the freedom and dignity of people and helps them meet their basic needs and those of their family. However, in the Virgin Islands a chronic lack of affordable property is depriving many of the right to own their own homes. We have become a society divided into a dwindling number of older people in the “housing haves” and an ever-growing number of young people amongst the “renting rest.”
So how did we get to the point where Virgin Islanders, both present and future, can’t possibly hope to get the same benefits of being a citizen of this territory as previous generations? In my opinion, I believe that a couple of factors are to be blamed. First, across the territory there is hardly a family that hasn’t been affected by land disputes. Our parents’ generation has often withheld their children’s inheritance, and in so doing failed in one of their most important responsibilities as parents — that is, to raise children who become independent and self-reliant adults.
Secondly, we have come to see real estate as the place to make money, resulting in vast acreage of the territory being sold off. As part of this, individuals lost or were forced to sell family property to pay debts because they were encouraged to borrow massively to build dream homes and apartments, while the government, real-estate agents and banks all profited from the transaction fees.
As a consequence, the VI is fast becoming a society of real-estate refugees, a gentrified society dominated by a non-property-owning class as the cost of housing, property and rent continues to grow, thereby increasing social inequality. The impacts are seen in poorer health, lower education attainment, increasing private debt, and higher crime rates. Unfortunately, our parents’ generation lost sight of the fact that their children wanted, and were owed, an independent existence where they could have their own home and property.
Gone too far?
So how can we say this has gone too far, and begin to shift the balance so that our people can remember their roots and what makes a society? First of all, the basic unit of society is the family. And we must recognise the important role housing and property play in its formation. We have got to make it possible for young men in particular to get on the property ladder. For while it can be said that in general women want marriage and children, men, however, only think of these ideas once their employment and independent housing is secured.
To this end, I applaud the government for its recent affordable housing initiative to construct 52 housing units for first-time homeowners, and call on officials to give preference to young men and young couples. However, I think we have got to go further: We have got to decommodify housing and property altogether. That is, to view both these things for what they truly are — basic human rights — and to promote them to a status above that of mere commodities only to be paid or traded for.
Land trusts
The best way of achieving this, I believe, is through the establishment of “community land trusts.” These would be non-governmental, non-profit, community-based organisations formed to ensure community stewardship of the territory’s lands in perpetuity. Their missions would be to acquire and own property, and to create assets such as affordable housing, civic buildings, commercial spaces, community gardens and any other assets deemed important to the community.
In this model, the community land trust builds the assets on its lands and sells them in a leasing agreement such as to a new homeowner for a designated time period — typically 99 years. However, the community land trust retains ownership of the land on which the house sits, protecting it from real-estate bubbles and speculation by keeping it off the market.
To conclude, in the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind. Therefore, the legitimate ownership of any property makes its holder a steward and guardian, with the task of making it fruitful and communicating its benefits to others, first of all their family, including those generations to come.
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