A scathing audit of Barbados’ HOPE Inc. housing initiative has sparked intense political debate, with Opposition Senator Ryan Walters accusing the government of systemic mismanagement of public funds. The controversy emerged during Wednesday’s Senate session addressing legislative corrections needed for 20 low-income homes in Christ Church, delayed due to a 2022 resolution error that omitted the National Housing Corporation as vesting authority.
Senator Walters seized on the Auditor General’s April 2025 special audit to highlight broader failures in the flagship housing program. The report revealed that HOPE Inc. operated without clear objectives, milestones, or performance indicators despite $64.5 million in committed public funding. According to Walters, this lack of framework created legal vulnerabilities, with the state potentially facing compensation claims due to transactions undertaken without proper authority and unclear property titles.
The audit identified significant financial mismanagement, including a $37.8 million cost overrun attributed to the decision to use precast construction instead of traditional methods. Walters further criticized the program’s renewable energy component, noting that only two of the promised solar-equipped homes actually received such installations.
Most alarming was the revelation regarding an international housing arrangement with Guyana, where $3.5 million was transferred for approximately 60 hardwood homes without performance bonds or proper vendor vetting. When the homes arrived in Barbados, missing components rendered them uninhabitable, requiring an estimated additional $125,000 per unit to complete—potentially totaling $43.7 million if the project continues.
Walters concluded that these findings have ‘cast a grey cloud’ over the government’s housing credibility, asserting that taxpayers deserve answers for what he characterized as a record ‘nothing to be proud of.’