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Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness' declaration that his administration is on target to provide 70,000 in its second term in office has been challenged by Professor Floyd Morris, opposition spokesman on housing and sustainable living.

"This claim is a deception which is not supported by the data," Morris said, in dismissing the claims.

"In 2023, the prime minister indicated that the National Housing Trust (NHT) had committed to building 43,000 of the 70,000 houses and the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) 15,000. He never stated who was to build the other 12,000 to make the total of 70,000 houses. Of the 43,000 houses that the NHT had committed to, 35,000 were at various stages and the remaining 8,000 were to be figured out."

He said that for the NHT to achieve that milestone in two years is most unlikely, given that for the past 10 years, the NHT has only been able to bring just over 2,000 houses to the market annually.

"It would require the NHT to take an average of 21,500 housing solutions to the market in two years for this milestone to be achieved. We have not seen this robustness with housing solutions from the NHT under the JLP Government," Morris said.

Additionally, he said annual reports of the NHT or the fiscal policy papers presented to the Parliament do not support the prime minister's assertion.

Pointing to the Fiscal Policy Paper tabled by the Holness-led administration in March 2025, Morris noted that the NHT said it expects to commence construction of 6,366 housing units, compared to its original target of 15,009. It also estimated that it would complete construction of 2,754 units, compared to its original target of 3,664 unit.

Morris pointed to the 2023 annual report of the NHT, which states that 2,686 houses were brought to the market by the NHT. In 2024, the NHT brought another 2,582 units to market.

"These do not add up," Morris said.