by Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN)—Abandoned properties in St. Kitts are primarily caused by mass migration, complex family inheritance disputes, and the high financial burdens of construction and maintenance.
Additionally, major storms can cause structural damage that owners simply cannot afford to fix, especially if they are underinsured.
Because these unmaintained properties serve as breeding grounds for vectors such as rodents and mosquitoes and pose public safety risks, the local government has stepped up enforcement.
Sherilita Dore-Tyson, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, expressed that abandoned properties are a serious challenge communities face in St. Kitts.
“I had a conversation with Hon. Minister Duggins the other day about Challengers. And he told me 60% of the houses in Challengers are unoccupied. We have it as well in Saddler’s. Almost, I think, three or so streets, nobody lives on those streets. Their houses are abandoned. So it’s a serious problem. And we have to look at the environment. We have to look at sustainability and health. It’s a multi-ministerial approach to solving this matter.”
Sustainable Development Minister, Hon. Dr Joyelle Clarke explained how the government would handle such properties.
“With the passage of the community beautification and safety bill, we are now able; we have the legislative support to actually deal with the houses. So in our last senior management team, we discussed the establishment of the CBS authority that then allows the combined board authority with sustainable environment in legal, et cetera, to go into the communities. You’re sending out a task force. You go into communities. You identify the seriously problematic lots. We clean them one, two, three times. It’s placed against your property tax. If you don’t come and claim our pay, it then goes to abatement. And then the government can recover its costs. But the intent of the bill was to deal with these abandoned lots. But then we realised the execution of such is so expensive and so huge that we had to, as PSA, bring all ministries on board, Inland Revenue, small businesses, parks and beaches, the Ministry of Health.”
Work has begun concerning the abandoned property issue; however, Minister Clarke says in 2027, a more robust effort could be expected.
“So it’s a serious coordination that this new authority, our board, has to do. We are submitting it for capital support. And hopefully in January 2027, we can go forth and execute. But the ministry, in testing how we do this, has already started this work. So, whenever people call about a problematic area, we go into the community. We get our environment for everyone task force out. And we clean. And we see how much does it costs. What did the homeowner say? Because it’s only when you start to chop on somebody that you realise it has an owner. Only when you start to cut one bush do the owners show up. And so we realise that is also a way of bringing out who is responsible. And some of them need legal support because they didn’t settle their parents’ estate. They don’t have any executor for the will. And so the land belongs to no one, and the government would then definitely have to take over.”
With the government’s moves to address the issues of abandoned lots, the conversation between the right and privilege of land ownership and stewardship is highlighted.
The importance of land ownership and building generational wealth has significant historical and cultural implications. It has also been a major focus of discourse in the Federation and much of the region, as global financial shocks continue to highlight the need for financial security.
However, under the Community Beautification and Safety Bill, the stewardship of these lands is brought to light as landowners refuse to clear or clean long-abandoned lots after proper notification.
The State can have private businesses clean them and attach the cost directly to the owner’s property taxes, or ultimately acquire the land to repurpose for public housing.
