will soon have a shot at winning something almost as good -- a home of their own.

Overwhelmed with applicants for the 54 three-bedroom houses it plans to renovate and sell at Southside in St. David's, the Bermuda Land Development Company will hold a lottery of qualified applicants.

More than 300 families have contacted the BLDC about the homes, which are being renovated at a cost to the company of $8 million and will be sold on a leasehold basis.

Originally, the BLDC said it expected to spend up to $120,000 on renovating each house, but now says it will now spend an average of $148,000 per home.

And BLDC chief executive Carl Musson said the homes will now be sold for between $240,000 and $390,000, up form the original $200,000 to $350,000.

Mr. Musson said there are already 320 families on a waiting list for the 54 homes. About 100 families had contacted the company originally when the plan was to rent the homes out. Once a decision was taken to provide leasehold ownership, more than 200 more families contacted the BLDC.

All those families are now on a register and will receive an initial information package containing an application form that will describe the required financing, and what down payment they will need, to be considered.

The pre-screening will also include an open house process that will allow people to see a model of the properties, firsthand.

But officials believe there will still be so many applicants at the end of the process that an audited lottery draw will be required to fairly allocate the homes.

Mr. Musson added: "We still have to finalise the mechanisms for the process, because we need to ensure that it is a fair process.'' A marketing scheme is to be rolled out next month for the old US Navy homes, which will be certified to Bermuda's building code. Mortgages of up to 95 percent are being made available to Bermudians.

Parliament will have to approve the planned 125-year leases, and the BLDC will establish provisional sales agreements for buyers in the interim.

The revised prices for the St. David's Island homes are now starting at $240,000, and topping out at $390,000 for the larger premises.

Mr. Musson said: "We are trying to make them as accessible to as many buyers as possible, generally those who are first time buyers.

"We have put into place with the lending institutions a plan to assist those who wouldn't otherwise be eligible for a mortgage.

"The banks, or mortgage lenders, have normally required large down payments.

We are hoping to assist those who may have as little as five percent to put as a down payment.

"The banks will hold the mortgages, but we will work in conjunction with lending institutions to provide a home-buyers' assistance programme for certain eligible candidates, which could bring the down-payment to as low as five percent.

"And we have been discussing with the banks 20 to 25 year mortgages for these properties. It would bring monthly payments into a reasonable realm.'' GOVERNMENT GVT