Plans to build 120 rental units at the Old Naval Hospital site at Southside have been put on hold, Works and Engineering and Housing Minister David Burch has revealed.

He said the project, promised in November?s Throne Speech, would not begin until at least the 2007/08 financial year because the department didn?t want to over-stretch itself.

And even then it might be revised to take into account new circumstances.

He told : ?We took the decision to only ask for money for things we think we can spend in a financial year as opposed to having it sitting and not utilising it.?

Difficulties in getting a contractor were also envisaged.

But he said Government was still on target to meet its pledge to get 330 units up within 30 months to cope with Bermuda?s housing crisis.

And Sen. Burch revealed the latest details on a slew of other housing projects.

He said the 38-unit Perimeter Lane, Pembroke development is on schedule to start in June and be finished within 18 months.

However final details of the scheme have yet to get planning approval and reports are being done on the extent of foundations needed.

The project includes the construction of 12 one-bedroom units, 16 two-bedroom units and ten three-bedroom units.

A paper is due to go to Cabinet this month suggesting a switch of locations for the much-delayed Harbourside Village which promises 198 homes, said Sen. Burch. ?We have floated the idea to build across the street, that doesn?t provide any impediment.

?We could start immediately, it was land once built on. It?s uninhabited.

?If we build in the original location we still have challenges, we still have tenants and issues. The warehouses they were supposed to go to have not yet been completed.?

He said construction was well underway with one warehouse likely to be finished next month. Boat storage space had been found nearer number one gate but needed planning approval.

Asked about the West End Sen. Burch said he expects the sale of units at Boaz Island Village to help fund other affordable rental projects.

He said of the 94 units, 52 were still owned by Wedco and most could be sold off at affordable rates, with sitting tenants getting first option. About six will be kept to house tenants whose homes were under renovation.

?There?s a plan to build new rental units at Boaz Island Village. The building will take place where there were warehouses. They won?t lose the football pitch.?

He said the plan was number one on Wedco?s agenda.

Sen. Burch said the concept of Harbourside Village, where the sale of market rate homes helps subsidise the creation of affordable ones, would continue to be applied in future schemes, even if the two categories of homes were in separate locations.

Charity Habitat for Humanity has a plan to renovate houses in Victoria Terrace to improve living conditions for tenants who would be helped on their way to buying those homes.

That project will deliver little in the way of extra funding to Wedco admitted Sen. Burch but would help the Government?s mandate to boost home ownership. Wedco has long planned to develop the Victualling Yard in Dockyard into 16 one-bedroom units, 16 two-bedroom units, and 16 three-bedroom units but the issue has been snagged by 21-year-lease limits which are a turn-off for developers. That issue should be dealt with by Government in the session starting next month, said Sen. Burch.

However the plan for 25 one-bedroom units and 26 two-bedroom units at the North Basin is unlikely to start in the coming financial year. ?We need to resolve the location of the cement.? He said research into where the new plant will go should be finished in the first quarter. ?Then we will sort out the long-term lease issue.?

He predicted a calming of the somewhat acrimonious relationship which saw cement supplies drying up as Bermuda Cement Company and Wedco rowed over granting the company a new lease. ?Based on the timeline, at the very latest by mid-year we will have a clear way forward and all the hurdles overcome so we won?t have the sort of anxiety which existed at the end of the lease last year.?

Also in the West End, the 14 rental units being built in Butterfield Lane, Sandys are due to come on line in September.

The mobile homes being installed at Morgan?s Point will be gone in 30 months, Sen. Burch has pledged. Last week the first of six three-bed homes was put on land bordering of the Railway Trail. He said: ?I am certain the families who are going to be housed will be very grateful. It does give us some flexibility, the fact they are temporary.

?That Bermudians are not entirely comfortable with them is a good thing, they should not become a permanent fixture around them.?