The National Housing Trust (NHT) has refunded $497 million to contributors, the agency has announced.

More than 23,000 persons collected refund cheques.

The payments are a 41 per cent increase on the payouts in 2007, the trust said, when it refunded $295 million to some 22,000 persons.

But the figures also indicate that the average payout was larger this year, at just over 21,600 per person, compared to $13,400 last year.

The trust refunds contributions under two categories: special, which covers retirees, invalidity pensioners, migrating expatriates and agents or nominees of deceased contributors; while the regular category covers everyone else.

Regular refunds

Regular refunds become due in the eighth year of the contribution.

Jamaican workers and employers are mandated by law to pay a portion of their earnings to the NHT, but only employees are eligible to reclaim the funds, with interest.

Repayment is not automatic but has to be applied for, whether in person or online, any time during the year.

Over the past two years, applications have been increasing, and the trust now returns $2 billion per year to contributors.

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