The move comes amid fears of a link between overcrowded homes and child abuse.

This week the Coalition for the Protection of Children announced plans to set up a task force.

Coalition spokeswoman Sheelagh Cooper said: "I believe we have reached a crisis point with housing.

"It's a critical problem and is having a profound effect on maltreatment of children.

"Eighty percent of people who come to our attention are suffering serious problems with respect to affordable housing.

"We are not in the housing business, but it has become such a critical problem for our clients.'' Ms Cooper said the Coalition -- an advocacy group concerned for the rights of children -- would be sponsoring and funding the task force.

But the six members would be chosen from a broad cross-section of the community. None would be from the Coalition.

"I have approached them, although I don't want to say who they are until I have a chairman. I will probably announce the membership early next week,'' said Ms Cooper.

She added the task force would have three months to produce a report with recommendations for Government.

"We are not looking exclusively to Government for solutions. This is really a problem in the private sector.

"Government is notoriously bad at solving these types of problems.'' Ms Cooper, however, said Government would have a responsibility for providing alternative housing -- if it destroyed homes on the Baselands.

"Given the critical shortage of available housing, they would have an obligation to do so.'' Ms Cooper said the task force would assess the scale of the problem of affordable homes, examine the cause and come up with possible solutions.

"There is a close association between people who find themselves in overcrowded or unsafe living circumstances and child victimisation.

"There are a number of reasons why this is so. One reason is that it increases stress levels.

"Also, when rent is such a large percentage of income it puts pressure on the rest of a person's economic life.'' She added: "Our intention is not to point fingers and lay blame. The purpose of the task force is to identify the extent of the problem and develop some strategies for ameliorating it.'' Ms Cooper said she wanted to hear from individuals who had particular views on Bermuda's housing.

"We are going to hold interviews to allow the general public to speak to the task force.

"I would like to hear not only from people who need affordable housing but also from landlords.'' Anyone wanting to speak to the task force can ring the Coalition on 295-1150.

"We will be holding private interviews and we will also accept written submissions,'' added Ms Cooper.