Shadow Housing Minister Wayne Furbert has called foul over the Bermuda Homes for People (BHP), he declared yesterday.

Mr. Furbert questioned the BHP deal after it was revealed that market price homes at the Southside development could be sold to investors other than first-time home buyers in the future. He also voiced concerns about the effect of recent duty reliefs granted to the BHP, wondering why the millions of dollars in savings have not resulted in even lower prices for the homes.

The BHP is developing 196 homes at Southside in a development called Harbourside Village. Of the 196 homes, 98 will be sold at market price ($650,000 and up), while the other 98 will be affordable homes to be sold at just under $200,000. The entire project is based on a similar development in Nantucket where the profits from the sale of market price homes are solely used to fund the development of affordable homes.

There is strict criteria governing the purchase of the affordable homes, with eligible parties placed in a lottery presided over by the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC).

The controversy, Mr. Furbert said, arises over the market price homes. Government has stated these homes must also be sold to first-time home buyers.

However in the House of Assembly on Friday evening, both Mr. Furbert and Southside area MP Renee Webb revealed they had been told they could purchase one of the homes themselves ? despite already owning homes.

In response, the Premier stated the market price homes should be available to first-time home buyers only, and that those who were not first-time home buyers who had already placed deposits on Harbourside homes should have those deposits returned.

Yesterday both Government spokesperson Beverle Lottimore and BHP Board member Aideen Ratteray Pryse confirmed those deposits have been returned.

Despite the Premier?s assurances, Mr. Furbert remained concerned, noting that the BHP and the realtors selling the market price homes on behalf of that entity, the Property Group Ltd., have stated the market price homes could be available to persons other than first-time home buyers in the future.

If the market price homes are not sold fast enough to raise the necessary funds, the BHP has stated it will widen the net in an effort to complete the sale of those 98 homes.

However the purpose of the project, Mr. Furbert said yesterday, is to build affordable homes and help young people returning home from school to purchase their own homes for the first time.

?Therefore it is unethical to support a company allowing people to buy homes for speculation ... I don?t care if it takes six months to sell them. It is not for people to speculate and make a profit on this.?

Ms Ratteray Pryse disagreed. The purpose of the project has been stated previously, she said: to raise funds through market price homes to build affordable ones.

Time, she added, is money. ?We cannot spend five years doing this. Once the full financing kicks in especially, there is a need to do everything on a timely basis ? no more delays. We have to get on with the project.?

The BHP will be re-assessing the state of the sales at the end of this month in an effort to determine when a cut-off point should be established, opening the doors to other interested buyers.

As for the duty relief, Ms Ratteray Pryse said when the original budget was planned two years ago the hope of getting duty concessions was factored in. Had Government not granted the concessions, she added, the BHP would have gone back to the drawing board. ?There are options,? she said.

There is one member of the development team solely devoted to constant adjustments and reassessments of the budget, she said. Costs have increased since the original budget was drafted two years ago, with other expenses kicking in such as an estimated $400,000 fire hydrant system.

Members of the development team are on staff and so do receive a salary, while the Board at present consists of volunteers. The incorporation documents for the company do include fees for directors, she added, though she was uncertain of the exact number. Most of that money, she claimed, will simply be ploughed right back into the company.

All returns on the overall project ? estimated to be at least some $2.5 million by Mr. Furbert ? are to be ploughed back into building more affordable homes, she added. Harbourside Village is the first but not expected to be the only affordable housing development built by Bermuda Homes for People.

Meanwhile, Ms Ratteray Pryse said it formed only a part of the solution to Bermuda?s housing crisis.