Government is to abolish duty on materials for affordable housing development and build 100 homes in Sandys.

The development in Ireland Island could start in the first quarter of next year said Housing Minister David Burch who said conceptual drawings had been done.

These units will be offered first to tenants in Albert Row and Victoria Terrace which are in dire need of renovation.

The remaining 76 units will be allocated to registered applicants of the Bermuda Housing Corporation.

Rents for means-tested residents will be calculated at a quarter of total family income.

The first project under this radical scheme to tie rents to earnings is Butterfield Lane in Somerset.

The BHC is now establishing rules with four families while another eight will be dealt with soon but it will only apply to families not already on financial assistance.

The programme will be expanded gradually to the 38-home Perimeter Lane project in Pembroke said Sen. Burch.

To provide incentives for builders, Government is to amend the Customs Tariff Act to provide a zero rate of Duty on imported materials for all proposals approved by the Government as 'affordable housing developments'.

Such materials often attract duty of 22.25 percent.

The duty abolition was welcomed by Habitat for Humanity board member Sheelagh Cooper who said it would make a significant difference.

And she welcomed a line in the Throne Speech which said every Bermudian should "reasonably expect to have a safe and adequate place in which to live".

She said: "That's a shift from affordable and adequate housing being provided and affordable and adequate housing being a right. I will support that wholeheartedly."

Government said it was racing ahead with its commitment to producing 330 units in 30 months made in last year's Throne Speech ? with 286 units now under contract with more to comeThey record includes:

Ten homes at Morgan's Point and Beacon Hill in Somerset have been completed and are now occupied.

Forty-three former Canadian Hotel residents have been housed at the recently renovated emergency facility at Southside.

Six of the 11 cottages at Southside have been purchased.

The 16 completely refurbished Anchorage Villas project will be completed by December 31.

The 110-unit Harbour View Village lottery-winner project is in progress and the 96-unit Loughlands project will break ground before Christmas.

Government said it will work with the private sector to generate progressive ways to finance new homes and encourage Bermudian landlords to get abandoned houses and empty apartments back into liveable condition and on the market for sale or rent.

In addition to tackling the problems of building and financing new affordable housing, Government said it would assemble the best legal and financial minds to determine how to renovate derelict homes for rent or ownership by deserving families.