Government is to remove tenants and revamp a housing block to sell off to the middle classes, Housing Minister Terry Lister announced yesterday.

He said 16 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units in Anchorage Road, St. George's would be sold at around $600,000 to $700,000.

Asked about the rehousing of tenants Mr. Lister said: “We are working on that now. Three of the units are vacant. That has happened by intent.

“It gives us a challenge as a housing corporation because on the one hand we want to redevelop sites and on the other hand we want to house Bermudians.

“While we are desperately trying to house all those who need housing from a rental point of view we are quite concerned that a young family who wishes to own a piece of Bermuda is now looking at $900,000 being the average price so we want to assist in that regard as well.

“That's part of our job, part of our mandate, part of our mission.”

Asked what was to be gained by moving people who were already housed Mr. Lister said: “The people who buy will be first-time homeowners so they are renting somewhere right now.”

He said the strength of any nation was people owning their homes, believing in themselves and believing in their country because of ownership.

“We will do whatever we can to push that ownership up.”

Building will start in the middle of next year to give BHC time to rehouse the Anchorage Road tenants, said Mr. Lister.

“The Housing Corporation have held meetings with these tenants to inform them of our plans to develop the property for sale and to reassure them that we will be rehousing them.

He said the attractive location in a quiet cul-de-sac with sea views made the apartments a target for renovation and sale.

Landscaping work is planned and the road will be reconfigured to direct it behind the four two-storey buildings.

“The home owners will get a very nice houses and a very nice price.”

Proceeds from the sale will fund other BHC Housing initiatives said Mr. Lister. He said as BHC renovated properties more tenants would be asked to move.

Mr. Lister reminded the public that the Bermuda Housing Corporation lent money to people unable to fund home ownership from other sources.

Mortgages of up to $500,000 are available for BHC properties and those in the private sector.

“The BHC will provide mortgages for constructing homes for individuals who may already own a lot of land and, on a case-by-case basis, may assist individuals with both the purchase of the land and the construction of their home on that land.”

He said there were 250 mortgages on BHC's books worth more than $18 million while BHC acted as a guarantor to another 500 mortgages already been sold off to the private sector after the mortgagor had demonstrated reliability in making payments and had built up equity.