Residents at Anchorage Road gave a mixed reaction last night to news that Government will renovate their homes and set a new rent to reflect those renovations.

While all expressed their relief that the apartments in St. George's will not be sold, many feared the rent increase will be unaffordable and there were differing opinions on just how much renovation was needed.

One of the apartment buildings has already been renovated, including a new coat of blue paint, leaving it in stark contrast to the others, which are barely coated in peeling and faded yellow paint.

Rents are different in each unit, but one of the one bedroom apartments in the renovated building was going for $890 a month, while a two-bedroom was going for $1,310.

In the apartments which have not yet been renovated, one-bedroom units were around $600. The Royal Gazette was unable to ascertain the rents for Royal Gazette was unable to ascertain the rent for any of the non-renovated two-bedroom apartments.

All the residents who spoke to the newspaper said they have been doing their own maintenance without the help of the Bermuda Housing Corporation including minor jobs such as masonry and plumbing, landscaping and painting. Some felt the buildings themselves were structurally sound and needed only a face-lift, while others felt serious work needed to be done.

“This place is in bad shape,” one man said. “It's all falling down. I fix all the cracks and paint every year but I can't paint the ceiling because it will fall in. That's how bad it is.

“If the renovations make it look really nice they'll raise the rent to market price and that's not fair, because we've been doing the renovations they should have been doing. I think we will be unable to afford it. We're working class people, we live from cheque to cheque.”

Another resident agreed the apartments “really need fixing up.

“I would be surprised if there was not a big rent increase,” he added. “I think it will be huge.”

The buildings were in dire need of renovations outside, he said. “They need replastering and the gutters are falling off, Fabian really did a number on them.

“The doors on the metre rooms need to be fixed, I worry about children being electrocuted.”

Others worried about termites, but also hoped the historical value of the buildings - originally erected to house soldiers during the Second World War - will be preserved.

And all the residents expressed how much they loved living in the area. “We love the view,” one man said. “It's such a nice place, it's quiet.

“I love living here.”