Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda has announced that the national government is pursuing up to $150 million in climate-focused international financing to dramatically expand a subsidized housing loan initiative targeting public servants and low-income households struggling with unsafe, deteriorating homes.
In comments shared during an interview with local outlet Pointe FM, Browne confirmed that formal funding requests have already been submitted to two major global climate bodies: the Global Environmental Fund and the United Nations Loss and Damage Fund. The administration is targeting roughly $135 million from these international sources, with the government committing to inject an additional $15 million in domestic matching funds during the initiative’s first year of operation to get the programme off the ground.
Unlike traditional mortgage and home repair lending that requires strict credit qualifications, the expanded programme will offer low-interest loans directly to individual borrowers who are locked out of standard banking financing. Concessional rates will sit between 2% and 3% annual interest, with extended repayment terms stretching up to 30 years to keep monthly payments accessible for low-income households. “We’ll be giving loans directly to individuals who ordinarily would not qualify for bank loans… and make it really affordable,” Browne explained in his interview.
The new initiative is designed to scale up a smaller existing housing programme run through the government’s SURF Fund, which has already distributed approximately $17 million in targeted housing loans to eligible residents. This injection of new capital will allow the government to extend the programme’s reach across every region of the country, moving beyond pilot projects in urban centers to address widespread dilapidated housing in rural and coastal communities that have long been overlooked.
Browne framed the housing programme as a critical climate resilience measure, making the case that substandard, aging housing leaves local communities far more vulnerable to the extreme weather events—including Category 5 hurricanes—that increasingly threaten small island developing states like Antigua and Barbuda. “If you have people living in substandard homes… and we have a Category 5 storm, the houses can’t stand up,” he noted, adding that ongoing talks with international funding partners have been productive and that he remains confident the government will secure the requested financing.
A key structural feature of the programme is its design as a revolving fund: monthly repayments from existing borrowers will be cycled back into the pool of capital to issue new loans to additional eligible households, creating a self-sustaining initiative that can grow gradually over time without relying on repeated government infusions.
Beyond climate resilience, Browne positioned the programme as a centerpiece of the administration’s broader national agenda to boost living standards and modernize Antigua and Barbuda’s national housing stock. He also issued a challenge to political critics, noting that the government has publicly outlined a clear, concrete funding stream for the initiative and called on opponents to detail their own plans for addressing the country’s substandard housing crisis. “We are telling you precisely where the money is going to come from,” he said.