An entrepreneur has claimed that Government has shown little interest in a housing proposal which could cut the cost of building a new home to $350,000.

The homes which Mike Marshall proposed would be built with aluminium and polystyrene and take only ten days to construct. Not including the price of land Mr Marshall said a three bedroom home, approximately 15,000 feet in size, would cost $350,000 and could withstand winds of 200 miles per hour.

He said: “I met up with a government official from Work and Engineering and with architects to show them my proposals and they have decided to do something else.

“They thanked me for my proposal and that was the last I heard from them, that was three or four months ago.”

A home that Mr. Marshall built 35 years ago with similar construction methods still stands at Warwick Camp today. When it was built it only cost $60,000. Similar homes have been built in flats over the years as well he said.

Mr. Marshall explained that the homes were not pre-fabricated, instead they were made of light weight materials and the aluminium frames went up very quickly. The construction methods he proposed would reduced the cost of building homes.

He said: “Today you would be lucky to build a three-bedroom house for $500,000, excluding the cost of land, but they just don’t seem to be interested.”

Sen. David Burch, who is Minister of Housing, said he did meet with Mr. Marshall but required more information.

He said: “They were asked to do their due diligence, that is: identify a site, secure planning permission for their system and return with a finite proposal. “I have yet to hear from Mr. Marshall or his representatives since.”

Sen. Burch said he has met with many potential developers but that it was not the Ministry’s job to do the leg work.

He said: “I take the view that it is not my mandate to increase any developer’s wealth by doing their due diligence for them and then acting as a ‘guinea pig’ for their new systems.

“Rather, we have entered into public/private partnerships with those developers genuinely interested in making a contribution to our housing stock who have presented a viable, durable and cost effective plan - we remain willing to do so with others.”

Sen. Burch said it was also incorrect that the Ministry is not interested in alternative construction methods. Currently the Bermuda Housing Trust complex at Rockaway is being built using a similar method to the one suggested by Mr. Marshall.

With housing being an important issue in Bermuda and for the Government Sen. Burch said all ideas and proposals are welcome. He said: “If Mr. Marshall or any other developer for that matter, has a viable plan that is beneficial to both parties and ultimately the people of Bermuda — they need only call the Ministry of Public Safety and Housing directly and discussions will be arranged.”