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In line with his legislative priorities for the upcoming Legislative Assembly set to commence in January, Rep. José “Che” Pérez Cordero plans to introduce several initiatives aimed at facilitating home ownership for families in Puerto Rico.
“The demand for housing is both urgent and significant. Our population is enduring the consequences of inadequate housing,” Pérez Cordero remarked over the weekend. “Within the New Progressive Party, we are genuinely committed to enhancing housing accessibility. The NPP’s Action Plan for Puerto Rico lays out specific targets to tackle the need for more than 50,000 housing units. We, from the House of Representatives, will focus on these projects, along with various bills and resolutions that we aim to present in January.”
“We intend to investigate, via a resolution, the causes behind the decline in mortgage loan originations seen in 2024. Current figures indicate that 3,130 mortgages were issued, reflecting a 5.2 percent decrease compared to the same timeframe in 2023,” he noted. “Conversely, the average median home price surged by 19.1 percent, reaching $343,556, making it challenging for the working class to secure new homes. The resolution we propose will also explore options to motivate home purchases among our middle-class citizens.”
“It is crucial to highlight that this issue is also encountered by states within the union such as Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia, among others,” the legislators remarked. “In Florida, the situation is so severe that housing developments are being constructed within shopping centers. We plan to introduce another resolution to assess the viability of refurbishing many abandoned housing complexes. This could provide a quicker solution to availability compared to new constructions, which on average take up to five years to finish, primarily due to the intricate permit system and labor shortages.”
The legislator further shared that he will be proposing legislation to promote the completion of incomplete projects, in addition to repurposing spaces in traditional urban buildings that previously housed businesses into residential units, an initiative that San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo’s administration is presently executing in downtown Río Piedras.
