Multifamily dwellings are buildings or structures designed to house several different families in separate housing units. The most common type of multifamily housing is an apartment building. Duplexes, quadruplexes, and townhomes also qualify as multifamily housing.

These dwellings are very common in the United Kingdom (UK) and are more often known as Council Houses as they belong to the local councils that operate the various towns and boroughs in the UK.

Their primary aim is to supply un-crowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at reasonable rents to primarily persons of low income. The majority are run by housing associations. There is also a “right-to-buy” the home.

In a speech made by Minister of Planning, Kurt Tibbetts, in the Legislative Assembly last week he said government was giving consideration to the possibility of building multifamily dwellings.

The matter of dealing with providing proper housing for people with no hope of buying their own home and cannot afford private sector rentals has been simmering for some time. It was brought to a head when the families living in the affordable housing units in West Bay built in 2004  have had their homes condemned, and need to be provided with somewhere else to live.

All these 32 homes were built by and most still belong to the National Housing Development Trust (NHDT). They are to be torn down because of safety concerns and the families living in them must be provided with new homes, Tibbetts said.

However, the minister explained, many of these tenants will not be able to move into the new homes to be provided by the NHDT because of a variety of reasons. These include tenants behind on their mortgages because of economic difficulties, illness, they are elderly and/or their age prevents them obtaining a mortgage.

Tibbetts said there has been some misunderstanding regarding the compulsory assessments to be executed by officials from Children and Family Services. The message claimed by some that the assessment was to get persons out was untrue. It was the reverse – to find them homes.

Government is faced with a challenge and if there was a hurricane where will we put displaced persons? We have to deal with the problem now, the minister stressed so there had to be a new policy dealing with social housing and therefore multifamily dwellings might be the answer.

In the UK, if you are homeless or facing eviction, the majority of councils there have a legal responsibility to help. They have a points system in place that takes into account various factors when they decide who gets priority for the homes. If you are homeless you immediately go to the top of the list. Perhaps Minister Tibbetts might like to take a look at the system in place there…..?