Housing Minister Nelson Bascome estimates there are 125 persons on the Bermuda Housing Corporation's emergency housing waiting list ... roughly the same number as when the Government changed hands almost three years ago!

It does not mean that some progress has not been made, just that as fast as accommodation is found for one family another contacts BHC in desperate need of accommodation.

"I would gather to say every year that figure is maintained, but what is sad is that 125 people moved off that list every year but 125 come back on," said Mr. Bascome.

"These are people who have eviction notices or are in what we call critical housing conditions in that it may be overcrowded. Since this series started it has inundated Housing Corporation with calls.

"As soon as you say housing, everyone comes running and what we're finding is a number of people are identifying with living in substandard conditions where a landlord hasn't done anything to the apartment. And because we have a number of houses coming on line, when they get close to completion then people go running to the Housing Corporation and try to change their situation from where they are to a new location."

A new 18 one-bedroom housing development for seniors is due to open this week at Southside. It will provide accommodation for 18 seniors who are on the Bermuda Housing Trust's emergency list, but reportedly there are dozens more on the waiting list.

The apartments are in the same neighbourhood as many of the 48 homes left vacant by the former Base personnel that Government either sold or rented in the last couple of years.

"We said we would do 24 sales and 24 rentals and had twice as many applications as they had units," said Mr. Bascome. "Twenty-four were sold as mortgage properties and the other 24 we are using as rental properties.

Government is also in the process of completing a total of 27 one, two and three bedroom units in six locations from St. David's to Somerset. The biggest one, on Field View Lane off Parsons Road in Pembroke, has eight units and should be finished by the end of September.

Homelessness comes into the housing equation, too.

"We started a survey last year and watched the cycle of those persons who are transient and who don't really live within a shelter," said the Minister.

"From that there are some 40 to 50 people who move in a transient way. Mind you, the Salvation Army Shelter can house up to 70, but if you take that 70 from the Salvation Army Shelter and add it to the 40 or 50 we are looking at about 120 persons who can be deemed homeless.

"But most times they don't want to stay at a shelter and adhere to rules that the shelter may have. There are also mental health issues, drug abuse issues and then sometimes an individual just likes to be a nomad."

Added Minister: "For the most times those are the persons who end up in Hamilton and beg, especially those persons who mental health issues. Homeless has many faces and many categories and sometimes people overlook exactly, when they say homeless, what it means."