Government tenants have won a temporary reprieve from rent hikes.

The announcement was made last night at a Government Housing Tenants Meeting at BIU headquarters.

In a letter, drafted yesterday afternoon, the Bermuda Housing Corporation informed committee members that the most recent rent increases will be deferred pending further meetings with tenant representatives.

"The meeting finished today at 3 p.m. and we picked up the letter at 5 p.m.,'' one member said. "We haven't even had a chance to have a post mortem.'' The revelation was heralded as good news, but members said their battle was not over.

"Personally I'm encouraged,'' one committee member said. "We're making progress. They are listening to us and want to keep the lines of communication open.'' Another added: "This was a first step and a good faith measure. We must keep up the pressure because this thing is not some gift we got. This is our right.

We hold our own destiny in our own hands.'' Along with the quashing of the new rents residents also demand that they not pay for water nor land tax.

And they said the Bermuda Housing Corporation should instigate a new policy on affordable housing -- with considerable input from the tenants themselves.

It was revealed that committee members had put forth their own formula for calculating rents to housing officials at the two meetings held this week.

The tenants had agreed that 25 percent of their wages -- or one week's pay out of a month -- was an affordable rent for them to pay.

United Bermuda Party MP John Barritt applauded the group for their initiative and urged them to "stick with it''.

Despite the positive progress, committee members warned the tenants that all of their issues will not be addressed before their January 31 deadline.

"It is a complex issue, it is not just us, there's the private sector and those receiving assistance,'' a committee member explained. "The Housing Corporation is only one part. There's also the people who make the policy, Cabinet and the politicians.'' Mr. Barritt pointed out that Shadow Housing Minister Stanley Morton had planned to table a motion in the House of Assembly on the housing issue when it reconvenes on February 6.

"In Government, things don't happen overnight,'' he said.

GOVERNMENT GVT