Apenisa Waqairadovu 
The Public Rental Board is calling for a new policy that would allow some tenants to build and own their homes.
Board Chair Isikeli Navuda says PRB Estates was not set up to accommodate tenants for life; its purpose was to allow people to save up to afford housing on their own.
He says for generations, hundreds of families have made PRB their own, although it was meant to be temporary accommodation.
Navuda says this is an issue of concern and affects PRB support for those who really need it.
“The Public Rental Board was created as a form of transitional housing from rental, and hopefully we can move on to home ownership.”
Navuda says they are trying to get the Housing Ministry to assist in the transition.
“For every development completed by the Housing Authority, they allocate a certain portion of that to PRB tenants who have attained good income levels and may have exceeded the threshold here with PRB and allow them to move on to home ownership.”
The move comes as hundreds of families continue to occupy PRB accommodation, meant to be transitional, for generations, which affects support for those truly in need.
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