the housing experience in barbados

The housing experience in Barbados

Allan Jones

This paper studies the past and present upgrading of the housing stock in Bar- bados. This has in the past traditionally been a self-help activity; but this approach has not dealt with infrastructural problems. Public sector involvement has recently begun to under- take comprehensive schemes which offer households good quality housing and improved services at high sub- sidies.

The author is Chief Housing Planner, Barbados, 230 Rowans Park, St George, Barbados, Windward Islands.

When one reads of upgrading projects in developing countries, images of vast squatter sett lements of the type illustrated in most housing journals and housing texts immediately come to mind. In such sett lements shelter is provided by whatever material comes readily and freely to hand and it is not uncommon to find combinations of disused cardboard boxes, metal from car bodies or other non-conventional house building materials being used for housing units. At the same time communicat ion channels within the sett lements are primitive or non-existent while site and household densities are excessive. The picture which is painted of health and nutrition standards is also a bleak one.

In sett lements such as these the traditional approach to resolving the housing problem would have been to raze the site to the ground and to rebuild, achieving similarly high densities by building high rise blocks. Within the recent past the upgrading approach has become increasingly important. This approach recognizes the strong sense of community in these areas and the many social linkages which make the community function. It achieves its objective through focusing on the particular needs, resources and income levels of the community, at the same time actively involving the community at all stages of the decision making process leading to the resolution of the problem. There are many upgrading possibilities, depending on the peculiarities of the particular situation; but the success of the general upgrading approach depends on its ability to retain community cohesiveness while improving the physical environment .

Barbados is an independent nation which is the most easterly island in the Caribbean archipelago which runs from Jamaica in the north to Guyana in the south. It is located at a latitude of about 13 ° north and a longitude of approximately 59 ° west. The island is pear shaped with maximum dimensions of 34 km and 23 km, a total land area of 430 km 2. The climate is particularly tropical, with mean annual temperatures of 26 °Celsius.

Barbados is a developing country in which there are housing problems which require upgrading solutions. There are areas on the island, particularly in the older established residential districts, where relatively poor housing exists. In such areas channels of communicat ion are substandard and vehicular road networks are in many cases non- existent. Facilities such as electricity and water exist in some areas but

52 0264-2751/87/010052-06503.00 © 1987 Butterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd


serve only the few residents who are able to pay the full economic cost fqr the installation of these services themselves. Garbage disposal systems are inadequate since there is not the physical infrastructure to permit the passage of the disposal vehicles. In spite of its categorization the island does not strictly conform to the generalized model, particularly in relation to the scale and intensity of the housing problem and the specific upgrading approach which it has adopted.

Upgrading of housing in Barbados has been practised for some time now, even though the concept has not always been recognized as such. An example of the extent to which this has occurred, particularly in the recent past, is illustrated by the increase in the proport ion of units of mixed construction from 4% to approximately 12% over the ten-year period 1970 to 1980. Prior to this period the upgrading effort would have focused on the expansion of the t imber unit which formed the basis for housing the masses of the population.

Essentially, upgrading has been an individual household effort which has been spurred by the relatively high incidence of home ownership - 70% - and a strong sense of pride. The public sector has been involved in road improvement works and in the provision of trunk lines for a more efficient distribution of water and electricity. Traditionally, then, the approach has not been project specific; it has not focused on any particular physical area. Recently, upgrading projects with heavy public sector involvement have been observed. These have arisen largely as a result of the siting of income generating development projects in areas where houses are already located.

This situation has necessitated the relocation of dwelling units to other sites. One example is the siting of the sewerage treatment plant in the city of Bridgetown, necessitating the relocation of houses to a site on the periphery of the city, and another example is the relocation of dwelling units in the path of the new St Barnabas Road. The trauma of relocation in both cases was reduced as a result of efforts to keep certain community linkages intact and to select sites for relocation which were near to the original location of those being relocated.

In order to assist a greater understanding of the Barbadian model and the challenge which it poses for the upgrading solution some attention will first be focused on the nature of the housing problem. Following this a close look will be taken at the two models.

The upgrading challenge Most recent estimates of the population based on the 1980 census indicate that some 245 000 persons live on the island which has an annual population growth rate of approximately 0.4%. This population is concentrated along the west and south coasts and in the centre of the island. The capital parish of St Michael alone, which is also located on the west coast, accounts for some 40% of the total population, in spite of the fact that it has suffered a decline over the last ten years. This phenomenon has been partly occasioned by the outward migration of city dwellers to more desirable residential developments in the rural areas. This situation has contributed to creating the challenge to upgrading since most of the units left behind .are the older houses in the stock which are also in greatest need of repair.

There are some 70 000 units on the island of which approximately 50% are located in St Michael. Many of these houses are detached units

CITIES February 1987 53


with some 70% being owner occupied. In spite of this apparently high level of house ownership, however, there has been until recently much insecurity over the land on which the houses are located. This insecurity has been associated with the institution of rented land in the tenantry system. It is est imated that approximately one-third of the units on the island are to be found on tenantries. More than half of the dwelling units are built of wood, of which approximately 52% are older than 20 years. This relationship is significant if only to provide some measure of the problem, since wooden houses need continuous maintenance and this becomes much more urgent with the increasing age of the structure. Squatting is negligible and there is no official evidence of homelessness.

The basis of the traditional sett lement pattern on the island has been the tenantry system in which ownership of land was largely in the hands of the sugar plantations which historically provided the economic base of the country. There were also, and still are, some privately owned non-plantation tenantries; but the set t lement pattern there is much the same. In this tenantry system house sites, and in some cases agricultural holdings, were allocated in a rather ad hoc manner to prospective tenants, who moved their wooden houses on to the land, sited them on a ' loose rock' foundation and lived at the pleasure of the landlord. These tenantries displayed a marked absence of thoughtful layout as little attention was generally paid to lot definition and configuration or to the provision of adequate roads, electricity or water supply. Invariably these tenantries were located in the most inaccessible areas of the plantation wherever the rocky, unproductive lands were found.

This system had a significant impact on the condition of housing and on any upgrading efforts by the individual household or the public sector. While it was possible for households to improve the wooden structure either by way of expanding or maintaining it, they were unable to upgrade the loose rock foundation, which invariably consisted of the stacking of rocks on the surface of the earth without any bonding agent.

In addition to this, the system perpetuated the pit latrine as the major means of sewage disposal, since the landlord's permission for a conversion to a water borne system was always necessary and not generally forthcoming. While the pit latrine may still be the only feasible form of sanitation in some parts of the island, it is generally regarded as a feature of the past.

The upgrading challenge facing the public sector is to ensure that sett lements are provided with an adequate infrastructure since landlords have not perceived this to be one of their responsibilities and neither is the improvement of existing infrastructure amenable to individual effort.

The upgrading experience What is particularly noticeable about the upgrading experience in Barbados is the distribution of responsibilities. Households appeared to recognize, without much prompting, that it was their responsibility to upgrade their units and this activity went on irrespective of the upgrading of the physical infrastructure. In those cases where individual efforts ran ahead of public input it was not unusual for households to pay for the installation of electricity and water themselves. While this initiative was to be commended it generally served to frustrate a more efficient development of the tenantry in the future.

54 CITIES February 1987


The traditional upgrading model

Tl~e traditional unit involved in the household upgrading model is the wooden unit on an impermanent foundation; it is invariably a single gable structure 18 feet by 9 feet, with an attached shed. This unit is divided internally into two rooms used for living and sleeping, while cooking is done in the shed. Toilet facilities are located in the yard of the unit. There is generally no electricity in the unit and there may or may not be a water service to the yard of the house.

The first stage in the process of upgrading would normally include the addition of a second gable much the same size as the first and creating a pace for a second bedroom and a dining area. Much of this expansion is done in t imber, usually pitch pine.

The conversion of the shed into a concrete block structure which houses the kitchen and the toilet and bath tends to be the next stage in the process. The a t tachment of the toilet and bath to the unit indicates that there is a water borne system and that the unit is now served internally with water. Electricity may now be installed or may constitute the next stage in the upgrading process. The conversion of this unit into a partially permanent structure indicates also that the land is owned by the household or that the landlord has intentions of selling it at some stage to the household.

Over time the remainder of the unit is converted into a concrete block structure with possibly a third bedroom and garage. At some stage in the process electricity may also be installed in the house. This process takes around fifteen years, and could be more or less, depending on what the household can afford.

This model is useful and instructive for a number of reasons. The most important is that this form of upgrading is largely self help with little or no public sector involvement. Of equal importance is the fact that the improvements are affordable by the household which invariably buys the materials at market prices on credit obtained from builders' yards or commercial banks in the city. Alternatively the improvements can be implemented on a cash basis; but in any event no subsidy is offered.

While the model is commended as a tried and tested method for dealing with the dwelling unit it fails to improve the infrastructure. It fails in relation to the installation of electricity since it places an unnecessary burden on the individual household which is able to instal electricity in the area first. Subsequent households in the area benefit without necessarily paying the costs of the poles, the cable and whatever other equipment is required.

In relation to the installation of water the model is inappropriate and also results in higher costs to the-householder. This is because the water service is provided by means of a half inch pipe which runs from the nearest main, which could be several hundred feet away. In the conventionally developed area the main runs alongside the frontage of the lot and the maximum length of pipe required to connect is some 16 feet.

There are limits to the extent to which the individual household can resolve its dwelling unit upgrading problem. The ownership of the land is one severe constraint since this prevents the 'construct ion of any part of the unit in permanent material. The result of this is that the foundat ion of the unit remains insecure as a loose amalgam of rocks. In



a climatic region which is susceptible to hurricanes this is not at all satisfactory. At the same time the ability to sink a well in order to upgrade one 's toilet facility to a water borne system is seriously restricted.

The public sector model

The public sector model builds on the individual model and comple- ments it by including a community aspect. This in practice means the upgrading of both the house and the physical environment , the latter through the installation of infrastructure.

Government has traditionally adopted the approach that in relocating units the householder expects to live in what is considered a good quality unit. Invariably this has meant the addition to the unit of a concrete block section which houses the kitchen, the toilet and bath. The provision of a water borne system and electricity to the unit is also included in the package. In adopting this approach the government recognizes traditional practices and incorporates them into its program- m e .

Infrastructural improvement is a very important part of this process. Improved standards of road construction involve the provision of a 16 ft vehicular carriageway with curb and slipper drains. Water mains run along one side of the road permitting easy connection to housing. Much the same standard obtains for the electrical reticulation. In fact the standards applied to these upgrading areas are identical to those in existence for other housing developments on the island. This form of upgrading is facilitated by the fact that it takes place away from the site in which the beneficiary community lives and tends to be on previously vacant land.

The capital cost of these improvement works is a charge to the project and is partially recovered, albeit notionally, f rom the incomes which the project generates. Philosophically the recovery of capital expenditure from the beneficiaries is not p romoted since it is argued that the t rauma of forced dislocation is a cost to the households which is difficult to quantify. In spite of this the beneficiaries contribute to the improvements since the proceeds from the sale of these lots and the taxes which the new owner occupied households pay feed back into the system and assist the recovery process.

The above upgrading model is successful in achieving good quality housing at a level which the society can afford. Superficially the approach appears to be a highly subsidized one which bears little relationship to the income levels of the beneficiaries. While the latter part of the observation is valid this approach illustrates the situation in which the business sector directly finances housing solutions.

A variant to this model exists where the government instals infrastructure in existing residential areas where no relocation is required. In those situations road widths vary and depend almost totally on site conditions. The road finish is the same, however, and may consist of an asphalt coating. In these situations the residents do not have their units improved.

Budgeting for these types of upgrading works is contained within government ' s capital estimates for a particular year. To this extent all taxpayers contribute to upgrading of the roads in the island generally and in any particular area. In addition to this the beneficiaries of the

56 CITIES February 1987

The housing experience in Barhados

programme who ultimately become landowners pay land taxes on a much improved land value and these taxes accrue to the government .

Upgrading projects - prospects

The upgrading experience has so far lacked a spatial focus. Individuals who owned units which required upgrading carried out these works as they could afford them. Financing was largely self-generated although short term loans could be obtained from commercial banks or some business houses to effect these repairs. Government facilitated the process by establishing loan schemes catering for the lower income earner. In addition to this, legislative provision was made for the acquisition of land by tenants who live in tenantries. This facilitated the process since such individuals who opted to buy could now complete their upgrading works without being frustrated by landlords. Finally, p rogrammes for physical infrastructural upgrading of select areas exist. There has been no concentrat ion of these efforts on an 3 one particular area in which there has been a felt need.

In the recent past efforts have shifted to comprehensive upgrading, focusing upon areas of great need. The principles which have been outlined above are all contained in these comprehensive p rogrammes which differ from the traditional approach only in terms of the spatial focus. The success of this approach will be in its ability to focus attention on, and raise the living standard of, people who live in particularly had areas.


the housing experience in barbados

Documents