A charity claims to be carrying out the first-ever study of the state of homes in Bermuda.

The Island's branch of Habitat for Humanity says Government has never properly assessed the condition of housing so it is conducting its own comprehensive study.

The research project ? 21st Century Challenge ? is aimed at assessing exactly how many people are living in sub-standard conditions in ageing, dilapidated buildings.

Habitat's executive director Larry Williams said: "If we are able to achieve this survey this will be the first time in Bermuda's history that we understand the state of houses in Bermuda.

"This is the first comprehensive survey of the state of housing. We are looking at the conditions in which people live. We are not looking at the superficial numbers. This is the physical condition of the housing. Government has reacted to numbers but no one has actually taken it to the next level. Perhaps the Government can explain why there hasn't been some push to understand what the state of housing is."

He said that a large number of homes on the Island were built some 25 to 30 years ago and may need expensive maintenance work.

That could prove impossible for families on low incomes and elderly people, he added.

"Probably 60 percent of the houses were built in the 1980s so they are in their 20th year, which means they are ageing," said Mr. Williams. "When things age they break down, such running water, electricity and plumbing.

"We assume that everyone lives in decent housing but that's just an assumption.

"We talk about 'decent housing' and we want to identify how decent is the housing in Bermuda. There are a lot of houses that look good but they are deteriorating within for whatever reason."

Mr. Williams said the charity was relying on Government to provide essential information for the study ? but that some departments were being less helpful than others.

"We have got quite a bit of help from many of the government departments but there are other government departments we haven't been so successful with. We are working as much as we can to be very diplomatic. We don't want to be an adversary of the Government."

The charity ? which helps struggling land owners renovate their properties with interest-free loans ? hopes the information will help with plans for future housing needs.

"The goal and objective is to plan over a period of time, establishing figures," said Mr. Williams. "We don't even know what houses we are going to need ten years from now. We don't have the statistical dynamics. We have the statistics but no one has married them together."

He said the answer in Bermuda, one of the most densely populated countries in the world, may not be to build more housing but to work on turning existing properties into sustainable, affordable homes. "The sad part about Bermuda is the fact that we make housing a very political issue," he said. "The politicians see it as a political football and the assumption is if we built x number of houses all our problems would be solved.

"We know that's not realistic. As long as people are being born and as long as people are coming into Bermuda there will always be a turnover and a need for housing.

"The problem with Bermuda is not necessarily a housing crisis in terms of shortage of places to live, it's the affordability issue. "There may very well become a housing crisis in Bermuda, a real crisis because people can't afford to live in homes."