There are some 300 applicants on a waiting list for about 30 vacant houses due to go on the market in the next few weeks.

The news came yesterday from Bermuda Land Development Company spokesman Don Grearson who revealed that information packages about the new homes at Southside would be sent out to applicants shortly.

Parliament has approved the sale of leases for 54 Southside homes by the BLDC and renovation work on the first 11 homes is 95 percent complete, said Mr.

Grearson.

There has been some delay in getting the houses on the market, he continued, because of ongoing negotiations with the Bermuda Housing Corporation who are set to buy some of the 54 units for themselves.

Renovation work will be done on the remaining units in groups of ten, added Mr. Grearson, but applicants can sign up for the chance to buy a home before it is renovated.

"When we start mailing out information packages our intention is that would-be purchasers will be able to look at all the units in the first area of development,'' he said.

This area is the group of homes nearest to Ship's Wharf. The second area of home development will be next door to Dolly's Bay.

A lottery will likely have to be used to decide who from the hundreds of applicants gets a home, added Mr. Grearson. If a lottery is held it will be audited by a local accounting firm.

"We have more people who want houses than what we have got available,'' he noted.

The information packages will explain when the houses will go on the market, the open days for viewing the units, and how to arrange for mortgages from local lending institutions.