DeFreitas advocates for low-income earners, saying Gov’t must ensure that home ownership is affordable to all

There is a call for pay equity in Antigua and Barbuda in order to make housing more affordable to all residents.

Franz deFreitas, the United Progressive Party (UPP) Candidate for St. John’s City South, says that everyone should have the opportunity to own a home.

But even though the Government has embarked on improving the country’s housing stock, many low-income families are still struggling to buy homes, since they do not qualify for bank loans.

Therefore, deFreitas says, the Government needs to pay more attention to “affordable” housing, since it appears that only the middle- to upper-income brackets can qualify, in spite of the new initiative to sell half-built houses.

In light of this and other realities, the UPP has called for the minimum wage to be increased to a “living wage” to better meet the rising cost of living.