Government of Jamaica

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to some frequently asked questions here. 
If you don't see an answer to your question, you can send us an email. 

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Yes, the NHT assists with the deposit in two ways. 1. If you have paid the 5% minimum deposit, and the vendor requires a larger deposit amount, the NHT will assist if the house/lot being purchased is less than the loan that you are eligible for. 2. The NHT will allow you to use contributions not yet due for refund to offset your deposit under the Contribution Refund Towards Deposit (CRTD) facility. Up to 6 years contributions can be used.

If the company is still in existence, verification of contributions can be had from the employer. If the company is no longer in existence and the contributions have not been remitted, those contributions would not contribute towards determining your points.

No. Under Jamaican law, all persons between the ages of 18 and 70 years, who earn at least the minimum wage are required to make NHT contributions.

The first thing you need to do is to register as a Self-Employed person. An assessment will be done by a Compliance Officer who will inform you of the monthly amount you are required to contribute and any back money you might owe, which would need to be cleared up.

As a voluntary contributor you should contribute 3% of your gross earnings if you are employed by someone else, or 3% of your income, net business related expenses if you are self-employed.

Yes. Pensioners who desire to contribute to the NHT are allowed to register as Voluntary Contributors.

No. You cannot be assessed as a self-employed contributor based on monies received from your husband/spouse.

With the NHT's change in policy, points are only considered when one applies for a scheme loan. You get 20 points for every 52 weeks of contributions made. Additionally, when you have applied for a scheme loan, you will be get between 110 and 70 points depending on the income bracket in which you fall.

You will be contacted within 3 working days following the submission of your application.

Voluntary contributors will not be charged interest on contribution principal arrears, i.e., contributions due since voluntary registration but not yet paid.

Voluntary contributors are required to continue making contributions even after they have received a loan from the NHT. If their contributions fall into arrears, the sums due will be deducted from the sums tendered as mortgage payments.   Voluntary Contributors who are borrowers would have contribution arrears payments deducted from their mortgage payments.

Voluntary contributors must have made at least 104 weeks (2 years) contributions, of which 52 weeks must be paid in the period immediately before the date of application. For example, if you contributed for five (5) years prior to migrating would, on registering as a voluntary contributor, you must contribute for at least an additional year before being eligible to apply for a loan. This change in requirement came into effect recently. Prior to this, Voluntary contributors were required to have made at least 52 weeks contributions with at least 13 payments made in the 26 week period immediately before the loan application.