New legislation has been introduced by Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy to broaden the properties available to Permanent Resident Certificate holders in a move aimed at boosting the Island’s housing market.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette after yesterday’s Senate session, the minister acknowledged that liberalising real estate for PRCs could be a sensitive topic for some Bermudians.

“It’s emotive, but it need not be when you see what we’re trying to achieve,” Senator Fahy said. “It’s to assist and boost the Bermudian economy.”

The Bermuda Immigration and Protection Amendment Act 2015 will most likely be debated at next Wednesday’s sitting of the Upper House.

“We believe that this legislation will help boost the property market in Bermuda,” Sen Fahy said. “There is a cap of 2,500 acres for restricted persons to purchase property, and that remains in place, which is an important point.”

Sen Fahy later clarified the amendments proposed.

The Bill will permit PRCs to purchase homes or condos of any ARV. The total number of properties they can purchase will be capped at two, and PRC holders will still be liable to pay the landholding charge for a licence.

This is set at 4 per cent of the total value of the land and property purchased, and it will rise to 6 per cent on September 30.

PRC holders will not be eligible to buy in developments such as Loughlands, where there has been Government assistance.

When asked the purpose of the legislation, Sen Fahy said: “We have Bermudians waiting to sell but with no one to buy.”

He added: “We’re also lowering the minimum annual rental value, or ARV threshold available to non-Bermudians and non-PRC holders for house purchases, from $177,000 to $153,000, which is the level it was at a number of years ago. That should open up the higher-end market for restricted persons.”

The lower level was put in place by the former Progressive Labour Party administration before being raised again in June 2012.

The Bill will also allow non Bermudians and non PRC holders to purchase condos with a minimum ARV of $32,400 or higher. The total number of properties they can purchase, whether residential unit or condo, will again be capped at two.

It proposes to lift the current restrictions on time periods that buyers of fractionals and other tourist accommodation can stay in those units in any one calendar year.

However, they will still be subject to immigration control, in that they will be required to seek residential certificates from the Department of Immigration.

It will allow the minister to extend time for estate representatives to deal with probate matters under exceptional circumstances.

Finally, the legislation proposes to remove parish restrictions on acreage ?held by non-Bermudians, while keeping the cap Island-wide at 2,500 acres.

The level was raised to 2,500 from 2,000 by the former PLP government. PRC purchases will remain in the acreage count

“There are other minor and technical provisions,” Sen Fahy said. “However, it is important to note that these initiatives will encourage hotel development and boost the property market by liberalising restrictions in that market.”

Sen Fahy said that given his standing as a substantive minister, it made sense for him to bring the Act before the Senate rather than waiting to take it to Parliament.

During his Immigration Brief, the minister touched on the vexed issue of PRCs who recently qualified to become fully fledged Bermudians.

There were 636 applications for Bermuda status in 2014, up from 150 the year before, as a result of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling allowing certain PRCs to request status.

Sen Fahy estimated that as of yesterday there had been about 635 applications emanating from that legislation, which were subject to processing delays as the Department of Immigration lacked sufficient staff to deal with them all at once.

Immigration records show that there are approximately 1,455 persons that would fall into this category, Sen Fahy said. Including cases where their children could potentially qualify, the department’s estimates place the total number of eligible candidates below 2,000.

He emphasised that the decision opening the way to status had lain with a ruling from the independent Immigration Appeals Tribunal, and not the Bermuda Government.

However, the issue remains a vexed one for many Bermudians — and yesterday’s Senate closed with Sen Fahy criticising The Royal Gazette columnist Christopher Famous for writing that the One Bermuda Alliance had allowed the move to go ahead.

“It was a court judgment that was given on legislation that was in place under the previous government,” Sen Fahy said, telling the Upper House he wanted to tackle misinformation.

He also branded “patently false” the column’s statement that he as minister had abolished term limits, or that he had amended immigration policy to allow children of work permit holders who were under the age of 19 to obtain summer work without a permit.

The proposal was published for consultation as a draft policy, and later dropped.

“I accept it’s an opinion piece, but it has to be based on some semblance of fact,” Sen Fahy said.