A charity that helps to renovate homes to make them habitable has moved to quash rumours that it was evicted from a premises where goods were sold to raise operating funds.

Habitat for Humanity of Bermuda said its ReStore was vacating the site on Front Street after deciding against carrying out necessary building repairs.

Sheelagh Cooper, the charity’s chairwoman, explained that it had been hoped Habitat could do the renovations, but it was eventually determined that the project would result in processes too drawn-out and work too costly to take on.

On Saturday, Ms Cooper said she was aware of a circulating rumour that the organisation was “evicted” from the property but added that the suggestion was “absolutely not true”.

She said: “We gave the landlord notice that we were leaving … ”

Ms Cooper told The Royal Gazette later: “We are not evicted at all.”

ReStore opened at the site in 2020 to offer new or gently used items, including home furnishings and art. Money raised went towards Habitat Bermuda projects, which include partnerships with businesses on the island and families to address the need for more adequate, affordable housing.

The building was earlier home to the iconic Bluck’s of Bermuda, which sold china, crystal and antiques for 175 years before it ceased trading in 2019.

Ms Cooper explained: “The building is old … the people managing the building were concerned about the building, as we were as well, and they did an electrical and structural analysis of the building.”

She said it was discovered that the site presented a fire hazard and that there were structural issues, and the charity was advised to leave the premises.

Ms Cooper added that an arrangement was instead made for Habitat to fix up the building, and the ReStore moved to an online-only model in July to allow the repairs to be carried out.

She said on Saturday: “We finally realised that the whole thing was going to be too expensive and much more protracted than we thought.

“Last week, we wrote to the building managers and said we feel we are going to have to change our minds on that, and we need until mid-November to get out of the building and find a place to go.”

However, Ms Cooper claimed that on Thursday, two days after her correspondence, the ReStore team arrived at the property to find they were locked out.

Speaking from overseas, she said that she contacted the building managers and was told access would be granted for two days for the purpose of moving operations out.

The notice period was deemed by Ms Cooper to be “completely unrealistic”.

She added on Saturday: “We have been furiously working away to try to get merchandise out of there.”

Ms Cooper said goods were being transported to a storage facility, but that the charity was looking for another site from which to operate its ReStore.

Yet on Sunday she told the Gazette: “Our truckers came back this morning to continue the job and the locks were back on.”

In another update, Ms Cooper said yesterday there had been an “about face” and that locks were removed, which meant the ReStore team was able to continue its process of moving out.

She added: “Fortunately we have had a couple of very promising offers for our new location."

Ms Cooper said that Habitat Bermuda would have loved to fix up the building but added: “We are in the middle of a very large project that’s producing four apartments for homeless families in Devonshire.”

She highlighted: “The Bluck family are wonderful and we are hugely grateful to them.

“I don’t want anyone to think that this has anything to do with them.”

A letter sent by a lawyer for Habitat Bermuda said that the charity’s position was that it entered an agreement with York House Ltd in 2020 to occupy the premises at 4 Front Street.

It was said that the right to do so would continue until the company notified Habitat Bermuda in writing of the licence’s termination, and that notice must be sent to the charity’s address or the property.

Correspondence from three days earlier, between Ms Cooper and Habitat’s liaison for York House, was seen by the Gazette.

It was claimed by the liaison that there was no lease in place, which meant Habitat had “no legal right to be in the building” and, owing to safety issues, two days could be allowed for moving out by the end of October but other than that the building would remain closed.

The letter from Habitat's lawyer, dated October 18, said that to place locks on the front doors was "in clear violation" of Supreme Court rules for obtaining possession of premises that were "previously occupied pursuant to a licence".

It added: "In accordance with the Bermuda Supreme Court Rules, you will need to file an application with the Supreme Court of Bermuda to obtain an order for possession, which you have not done."

The Gazette sent e-mails to Habitat’s liaison for York House but received no response by the time of publication.

A representative of Zobec — a trustee, corporate and accounting service provider — said the firm was the company secretary for York House and that there would be no comment from either organisation.