CONTROVERSIAL laws barring Bermudians married to foreigners from owning more than one property will be axed by the Opposition United Bermuda Party if it wins next month's General Election.

The Bermuda Immigration and Protection Amendment Act 2007 ¿ which became law in the summer ¿ requires Bermudians and their foreign spouses to obtain a licence in order to buy a home if the spouse benefits at all from the property or contributes towards its purchase.

Those who flout it face imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to $1 million ¿ penalties which critics describe as draconian. Lawyers and realtors also claim the Act is unfair and that the licences can take between three and six months to obtain, putting house sales in jeopardy.

Defending the legislation earlier this year, Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess said more and more land was being owned by foreigners and that he was not put off by accusations of unfairness against one section of the population. He said the law would clamp down on the practice of 'fronting', whereby foreigners have obtained property illegally using Bermudians as a 'front'.

"A staggeringly high 37 per cent of residential land in Bermuda is already owned legally by non-Bermudians," said Mr. Burgess. "I repeat, 37 per cent of residential land in Bermuda is already owned legally by non-Bermudians.

"We are not persuaded by those Bermudians who complain that they are being discriminated against because they are not permitted to purchase a second residential property with their non-Bermudian spouses."

But yesterday the UBP confirmed that, should it form the next Government, the new legislation will be scrapped on the grounds that it is discriminatory.

Shadow Labour and Immigration Minister Trevor Moniz (pictured) said: "The United Bermuda Party supports the crackdown on illegal fronting, but we do not support the amended Immigration and Protection Act in so far as it restricts the property rights of Bermudians married to non-Bermudians.

"A United Bermuda Party government would overturn this misguided policy because we do not feel it has the broad support of Bermudians and because it discriminates against Bermudians married to non-Bermudians.

"Specifically, we would remove the new restrictions placed on Bermudians married to non-Bermudians spouses.

"We think these new restrictions are offensive to most Bermudians.

"As a government, we believe it is vital to listen to concerns people raise against the legislation, and so would welcome opportunities to discuss our policies with the people we serve."